Ancient geese reached the height of three meters and weighed as much as a cow

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Artistic reconstruction of Genyornis newtoni, an ancient relative of the goose

Illustration by Jacob C. Blokland

Australia's prehistoric ptarmigan, once thought to be an ancestor of the emu, was actually the largest goose that ever lived.

This group was reclassified based on analysis going back 45,000 years. Genyornis neutoni The skull was found in the fossil deposits of Lake Carabonna in the South Australian desert.

The newly discovered skull is the first of the extinct species to be discovered since 1913, and the only one well-preserved enough to allow detailed anatomical study. G. Newton He weighed approximately 230 kilograms and was over 2.5 metres tall.

However, its close relativesDromornis stiltoniAt well over three metres tall and weighing up to 600 kilograms, it is not only a contender for the largest bird in history, but also the largest goose ever.

When Thunderbird fossils were first discovered in the 19th century, they were thought to be ancestors of ratites, which include emus, cassowaries and ostriches. Later, some argued that the group, officially called Dromornithiidae, with eight known species, should be classified with land birds, which also include chickens and pheasants.

now, Phoebe McInerney Researchers from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, concluded that the Thunderbird is a large waterbird and should be classified as part of the Anseriformes, the same group as geese.

The team was primarily convinced by the anatomy of the beak and skull, including the arrangement of muscles and the deformation of the bones to which they were attached. Genyornis The structure is nearly identical to that of South American screamers, an ancient lineage of waterbirds, and is so complex that it's unlikely it evolved independently, McInerney said.

Artistic reconstruction of the skull of Geniornis newtoni based on fossil data

Illustration by Jacob C. Blokland

All of the ptarmigans were herbivores, she says, but they were probably fierce creatures. “They would have been very tough animals,” McInerney says. “They could defend themselves and they would have been quite formidable beasts. They would have had a very low, loud cry.”

Adam Yates Yates, of the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery in Australia, said the study supports the claims of his predecessor, Peter Murray, who proposed in the early 1990s that the Thunderbird was a waterbird. “So it's not a shock to me,” Yates said. “But Genyornis It took so long to find the skull, so we're very happy that it has finally been found.”

Many Thunderbird species became extinct before humans arrived in Australia around 65,000 years ago, which is thought to have been due to climate change.G. Newtoni Humans had inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and some researchers speculate that hunting may have also played a role in their extinction.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient settlement uncovered in Chile dates back 12,500 years

Posted on May 24, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

About 12,440 to 12,550 years ago, hunter-gatherers regularly returned to Chile’s Lake Taguatagua to hunt an ancient elephant relative called Gomphotherium and exploit other local resources, according to a team led by archaeologists from the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile.

Taguatagua 3 site, Chile: (A) Burning evidence spatially associated with Gomphothery cervical vertebrae and skull fragments. (B) Sacral and caudal vertebrae, intervertebral disks, and unfused hipbone segments. Note the distance between the first sacral vertebra and its disk. (C) End scraper from the site. (D) Core debitage from the site spatially associated with Gomphothery remains. Image courtesy of Labarca others., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302465.

There are several known archaeological sites in the area. Lake Taguatagua Located in central Chile, it is one of the oldest known sites of human habitation in the Americas.

In a new study, Dr Rafael Labarca from the Pontificia Catholic University of Chile and his colleagues discovered an ancient hunter-gatherer camp dating back to the Late Pleistocene epoch, between 12,440 and 12,550 years ago.

The site, named Taguatagua 3, contains fossils of the Gomphosele, an extinct species closely related to the elephant.

Butchery marks on bones, stone tools and other evidence indicate that Taguatagua 3 was a temporary camp set up to process large carcasses.

During the camp’s short existence, other activities were also carried out, including the processing of other foods, as evidenced by the charred remains of plants and small animals such as frogs and birds.

Fossilized cactus seeds and bird egg shells suggest that the camp was inhabited, especially during the dry season.

Numerous archaeological sites from a similar period are now known to exist in the area, suggesting that Lake Tagua-Tagua was a recurring hunting and food-scavenging site for Late Pleistocene people thanks to abundant and predictable local resources.

“The area was an important location along the route of mobile groups at the time and the temporary camp may have hosted regular meetings between these groups,” the archaeologists said.

Further investigation of this archaeologically rich area will continue to provide insight into the migration and survival strategies of early humans in South America.

“Taguatagua 3 contributes to a greater understanding of how early humans adapted to the rapidly changing environment of central Chile during the Late Pleistocene,” the researchers said.

of Investigation result Published online in the journal PLoS One.

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R. Labarca others2024. Taguatagua 3: A new Late Pleistocene settlement in a highly suitable site for lacustrine habitat in central Chile (34°S). PLoS One 19(5): e0302465; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302465

Source: www.sci.news

Ancient Norwegian archaeologist uncovers Stone Age leader’s visage

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The skeletal remains of a 4,000-year-old Scandinavian man were discovered in 1916. Hitla island, Norway.

The male Hitra was approximately 169 cm tall, had blond hair and blue eyes. Image courtesy of Thomas Foldberg/Åge Hojem/NTNU University Museum.

“In 1916, the road up the hill to the Fausland farm on the island of Hitra was being renovated using gravel from the coast along the deepest part of Balmsfjorden,” said Dr. Birgitte Skarr of the NTNU University Museum. a colleague said.

“Suddenly, the workers noticed human bones among the sand and stones.”

“The bones belonged to an approximately 25-year-old man who died at the end of the Stone Age, 4,000 years ago.”

“He is believed to have drowned. At the time of his death, the sea level would have been 12.5 meters higher than it is now, and the site of his discovery would have been at a depth of 4 meters.”

Archaeologists also found and studied a Hitraean dagger and arm guard.

“The arm guard is a rectangular bone with two holes that would have been attached to the wrist of the bow hand,” they said.

“The guard protects your wrist from the impact of the bowstring when you shoot an arrow.”

“These pieces of equipment may indicate that he was a warrior.”

“It is impossible to determine whether the drowning was the result of a fight or an accident,” Dr. Skarr said.

“What we do know is that the Hitraeans lived in a very turbulent time.”

“Up until that point, most people lived as hunter-gatherers, and agriculture only became fully established in Norway at the end of the Stone Age, during the time of the Hitra people.”

“Although elements of agriculture had been introduced earlier in southern and eastern Norway, agriculture was first established during this period in central Norway, along the coast of western Norway, and in northern Norway.”

“We believe that agriculture was introduced by settlers who came to Norway to obtain more land, and they were willing to use weapons to do so.”

“So we have to expect violent clashes between the people who were already living here and the newcomers.”

“New people brought new knowledge to the country, not just about animal husbandry and agriculture, but also about other ways of organizing society.”

“They lived in a class society, had different worldviews, different religions, and large networks that spanned Europe.”

“This knowledge led to major political, economic, and social changes.”

“There is still much we don’t know about this dramatic period in Scandinavian history, and research continues.”

“His DNA is currently being analyzed at the Lundbeck Foundation Geogenetics Center at the University of Copenhagen.”

Source: www.sci.news

Discovery of ancient star in Milky Way halo estimated to be 12-13 billion years old by astronomers

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Astronomers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered very old stars in the Milky Way’s halo, a cloud of stars that covers the entire disk of our galaxy. These objects formed between 12 and 13 billion years ago, when the first galaxies were beginning to form. Researchers believe that each star once belonged to its own dwarf galaxy, which was later absorbed into the larger but ever-growing Milky Way, making them known as small accreting star systems (SASS). It’s called a star.

Artist’s concept of the Milky Way galaxy. Image credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi / CC BY-SA 4.0.

“Given what we know about galaxy formation, these oldest stars should definitely exist,” says MIT professor Anna Froebel.

“They are part of our cosmic family tree. And now we have a new way to find them.”

As they discover similar SASS stars, Professor Froebel and his colleagues hope to use them as analogues of ultrafaint dwarf galaxies, which are thought to be some of the first living galaxies in the universe.

These galaxies remain intact today, but they are too distant and faint for astronomers to study in detail.

SASS stars may once have belonged to similar primitive dwarf galaxies, but they are now located within the Milky Way and are much closer, making them more accessible for understanding the evolution of ultrafaint dwarf galaxies. This could be the key.

“Now we can look for more brighter analogs in the Milky Way and study their chemical evolution without chasing these very faint stars,” Professor Froebel said.

The low chemical abundances of these stars suggest that they first formed between 12 and 13 billion years ago.

In fact, their low chemical signature was similar to what astronomers had previously measured for several ancient, ultra-dark dwarf galaxies.

Are the team’s star players from similar galaxies? And how did they come to exist in the Milky Way?

Based on a hunch, scientists studied the orbital patterns of stars and how they move across the sky.

The three stars are located in different locations throughout the Milky Way’s halo and are estimated to be about 30,000 light-years from Earth.

When astronomers used observations from ESA’s Gaia satellite to trace the movement of each star around the galaxy’s center, they noticed something strange. All three stars appeared to be in motion, compared to most of the stars in the main disk, which move like cars on a race track. Wrong way.

In astronomy, this is known as retrograde motion, and is information that the object was once accreted or pulled in from elsewhere.

“The only way to get a star wrong from other members is if you throw it the wrong way,” Professor Froebel says.

The fact that these three stars orbit in a completely different way than the rest of the galactic disk or halo, combined with the fact that their chemical abundances are low, suggests that these stars are actually It was strongly argued that it was ancient and once belonged to an earlier era, a small dwarf galaxy that fell into the Milky Way at a random angle and continued its stubborn orbit billions of years later.

The authors were interested in whether retrograde motion was a feature of other ancient stars in the halo that astronomers had previously analyzed, and they looked at the scientific literature and found similarly low strontium and barium contents, discovered 65 other stars that appear to be moving in retrograde motion as well. Galaxy flow.

“Interestingly, they are all traveling very fast, hundreds of kilometers per second, in opposite directions,” Professor Froebel said.

“They’re on the run! We don’t know why it happened, but this is the piece of the puzzle we need and we never expected it when we started.”

Researchers are keen to find other ancient SASS stars, and now have a relatively simple recipe for doing so. First, they look for stars with low chemical abundance, then track their orbital patterns for signs of retrograde motion.

Researchers hope this method will uncover a small but significant number of the universe’s oldest stars, out of the more than 400 billion stars in the Milky Way.

“I really enjoyed working with three female undergraduates. It was a first for me,” said Professor Froebel.

“This is just an example of the MIT way. It is. And anyone who says, ‘I want to participate,’ can do so, and good things happen.”

team’s paper Published in Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices.

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Hilary Diane Anders other. 2024. The oldest star with a small amount of neutron-capturing elements and originating from an ancient dwarf galaxy. MNRAS 530 (4): 4712-4729; doi: 10.1093/mnras/stae670

Source: www.sci.news

Newly Found Ancient Rock Art Ruins Unearthed in Sudan’s Eastern Desert

Posted on May 9, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Archaeologists from Macquarie University and the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures have discovered 16 new rock art sites in Sudan's eastern desert, or 'Atobai'. Almost all of his newly discovered 4,000-year-old artwork depicts the presence of cows.

Rock art from the area around Gebel Nahoganet in the eastern desert of Sudan. Image credit: Cooper other., doi: 10.1177/03075133231211.

“Finding a cow carved into a desert rock face was puzzling, as cows require large amounts of water and acres of pasture, and cannot survive in today's arid conditions in the Sahara Desert.” said Macquarie University researcher Dr Julian Cooper.

“The presence of cows in ancient rock art is one of the most important pieces of evidence for a former 'Green Sahara.'”

Rock art found in eastern Sudan also depicts the desert as a grassy savanna filled with ponds, rivers, swamps, and waterholes and home to a variety of African savannah animals, including giraffes and elephants.

The idea of a “Green Sahara'' has been proven through previous archeological and climate fieldwork and research, and experts are calling this the “African Wet Period''. This is a period of increased summer monsoon precipitation that began about 15,000 years ago and ended about 5,000 years ago.

Depictions of humans alongside cows may indicate the act of milking, suggesting that the area was once occupied by cattle pastoralists until the 2nd or 3rd millennium BC.

After this point, reduced rainfall made cattle grazing impossible.

Currently, the region receives very little annual precipitation.

At the end of the “African Wet Period”, around 3000 BC, lakes and rivers began to dry up, dry pastures became covered with sand, and most of humanity left the Sahara Desert to seek refuge near the Nile River.

“The Atbai desert around Wadi Halfa, where new rock art was discovered, was almost completely depopulated. For those who remained, cattle were abandoned for sheep and goats,” the archaeologists said.

“This would have profoundly affected every aspect of human life, from diets and limited milk supplies to the movement patterns of nomadic families and the identity and livelihoods of those who depended on cattle.”

team's paper Published in Egyptian Archeology Journal.

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julian cooper other. 2023. Rock art research in the eastern desert of Sudan: Results of the 2018-2019 Atobai research project. Egyptian Archeology Journal 109 (1-2); doi: 10.1177/03075133231211

Source: www.sci.news

Ancient Mayan ball fields reveal presence of psychoactive and ceremonial plants, say researchers

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A research team led by University of Cincinnati archaeologists has found evidence of an assemblage of four species of ceremonial plants beneath the endfield of a late Preclassic ball field at the Helena complex in Mexico’s ancient Mayan city of Yaxnoca. Plants included Ipomoea corymbosa (xtabentun in Mayan), Capsicum sp. (chili pepper or ic in Mayan), Hampea Trilobata (Joel), and Oxandra lanceolata (Chilkahuit). Two of these plants, jor and Cirkawit, are involved in the production of ritually related crafts, while chili pepper and Stabentun are associated with divination rituals. Extaventun (known to the Aztecs as oloruqui) produces a highly effective hallucinogenic compound.

Map of the Helena complex showing excavation locations in relation to the baseball field structures (Structures H-4 to H-7). Image credit: Lenz other., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301497.

The ancient Mayans played several ball games, including pokatok, which had rules similar to soccer and basketball. Players tried to pass the ball through rings and hoops on the wall.

“The ancient Mayans likely made ceremonial offerings during the construction of their ball courts,” said University of Cincinnati professor David Lentz.

“When they built a new building, they asked for God’s goodness to protect the people living there.”

“Some people call this a soul-entering ritual to obtain blessings from the gods and appease them.”

From 2016 to 2022, Professor Lentz and colleagues worked in the ancient Mayan city of Yaxnoca, in the state of Campeche, about 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) north of the Guatemalan border.

They discovered 2,000-year-old Mayan ceremonial deposits beneath the early piazza floor of the civil ceremonial platform on which the ball court was built in Yaxnoca’s Helena complex.

“Just like with baseball stadiums, when a building was expanded or reused, the ancient Mayans made offerings to bless the site,” said Nicholas Dunning, a professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati.

“Archaeologists sometimes find ceramics and jewelry among these offerings, along with culturally significant plants.”

“We’ve known for years from ethnohistorical sources that the Maya also used perishable materials in these offerings, but finding them archaeologically is nearly impossible and That’s what makes this discovery using eDNA so special.”

“In tropical climates, ancient plant remains are rarely found and quickly decompose.”

However, using environmental DNA, scientists were able to identify several types known for their ritual significance.

They found evidence of a morning glory called stabentun, known for its hallucinogenic properties, lancewood, chili pepper, and jowl, whose leaves were used to wrap ritual offerings.

“It’s significant that we found evidence that these plants exist together in the same small sediment sample,” said Dr. Eric Tepe, a botanist at the University of Cincinnati.

“The fact that these four plants, known to be culturally important to the Maya, were found in concentrated samples indicates that they were intentionally and purposefully collected under this platform. I think that says a lot.”

“Interpreting a botanical collection through the opaque lens of 2,000 years of prehistory is a challenge, but this discovery helps further deepen the story of this sophisticated culture,” Professor Lenz said.

The ancient Mayans devised water filtration systems and adopted forest practices with conservation in mind.

However, they were powerless against years of drought and are thought to have cleared vast areas of forest for agriculture.

“We see the yin and yang of human existence in the ancient Maya. To me, that’s why they’re so fascinating,” Professor Lentz said.

of findings It was published in the magazine PLoS ONE.

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DL Lenz other. 2024. Psychotropic drugs and other ceremonial plants unearthed from a 2,000-year-old Mayan ritual deposit at Yaxnoca, Mexico. PLoS ONE 19 (4): e0301497; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301497

Source: www.sci.news

Photos demonstrate the utilization of AI to reinterpret ancient graffiti

Posted on April 19, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Reinterpretation of etching

Matthew Attard and Galeria Michela Rizzo

Maltese artists at the 60th Venice Biennale Matthew Attard Through the prism of AI-driven technology, we address our nation's maritime heritage, along with concepts of faith and progress. His work focuses on images of ships graffitied by sailors on the stone facades of Maltese chapels from the 16th century to his 19th century, one of his is pictured below.

Boat graffiti in the Chapel of the Visitation of Our Lady in Weed Kilda, Malta

Elise Tonna

Attard, pictured below, used his line of sight to follow notches in the ship's hull, rigging, and billowing sails, a process facilitated by line-of-sight trackers and generative algorithms. “This line of sight was converted by technology into data points, which were further interpreted to produce lines and drawings,” he says.

A database of digital images generated from the data points captured the sculpture from different perspectives, from which works of art such as 3D scans and video works were created.

Matthew Attard wearing an eye tracking device.

Elise Tonna

Marine graffiti resonates with cultures where the relationship with the sea has been and continues to be important, and ships remain a metaphor for hope and survival. Similarly, the Maltese chapels have long been sanctuaries. Attard said he wanted to explore “parallels to the current 'blind faith' in digital technology.”

A reinterpretation of his etching is the impression of a ghostly skeleton, as shown in the main image. “Some would argue that even the most traditional mediums, such as pencil or charcoal, can be considered a form of drawing technique,” he points out. His exhibition, commissioned by the Malta Arts Council, will run at the Malta Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Italy until 24 November.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Archaeologists uncover ancient human occupation of Saudi Arabia’s lava tube caves spanning 7,000 years

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

New archaeological excavations show that the Umm Jirsan lava tubes in Halat Khyber, northwestern Saudi Arabia, have been repeatedly visited by humans from at least the Neolithic period to the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age (10,000 to 3,500 years ago). The stage of residence has become clear.

Photos of Umm Jilsan Cave and its interior.Image credit: Stewart other., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299292.

Intensified field research in northern Arabia over the past decade has highlighted the richness and diversity of the region's archaeological and paleontological record.

Human settlement in northern Arabia during the Pleistocene appeared to be sporadic and associated with periods of improved climate, but by the Holocene people had settled in the area more consistently through dry periods. I was able to.

“Our discoveries at Umm Jilsan provide a rare glimpse into the lives of the ancient peoples of Arabia, revealing repeated stages of human occupation and the pastoralism that once flourished here. It sheds light on people's activities,” said Griffith archaeologist Dr Matthew Stewart. University and the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology.

“This site probably served as an important transit point along pastoral routes, linking major oases and facilitating cultural exchange and trade.”

Rock art and animal records attest to the pastoral use of Umm Jilsan and the surrounding area, providing a vivid picture of an ancient way of life.

Depictions of cows, sheep, goats, and dogs confirm prehistoric livestock practices and herd composition in the area.

Isotope analysis of animal remains collected from lava tubes shows that livestock primarily grazed wildflowers and shrubs, while humans maintained a protein-rich diet and increased their consumption of C3 plants over time. has increased significantly, suggesting the emergence of oasis agriculture.

Professor Michael Petraglia, an archaeologist from Griffith University, the University of Queensland, and the Smithsonian Institution, said: “Subterranean localities are of global importance in archeology and Quaternary science, but our research is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. “This is the first comprehensive study.”

This discovery highlights the immense potential of interdisciplinary research in caves and lava tubes, providing a unique window into Arabia's ancient past.

“Umm Jilsan was probably not a permanent settlement, but a valuable transit point for people traveling between oasis settlements,” the authors said.

“Lava tubes and other natural shelters are valuable resources for communities surviving in difficult environments, and further research shows that they are important archaeological sources of information about the history of human occupation in Arabia. ”

“Our research into Arabia's hidden past uncovers thousands of years of human habitation in and around the Umm Jirsan lava tubes, revealing ancient lifestyles and environmental changes in this harsh desert environment. shed light on the adaptation of

team's paper Published in an online journal PLoS ONE.

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M. Stewart other. 2024. First evidence of human occupation of Arabia's lava tubes: Archeology of Umm Jirsan Cave and Surroundings, Northern Saudi Arabia. PLoS ONE 19 (4): e0299292; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299292

Source: www.sci.news

The ancient Maya performed cremations for deceased rulers in honor of a new dynasty’s succession

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Ornaments found with burned royal bodies in Mayan temple

Dr. Christina T. Halperin

About 1,200 years ago, the bones of several royals were burned in a Mayan city and discarded unceremoniously in the foundations of a new temple. These recently discovered ruins may represent a turbulent period in the Maya world, with violent political changes.

“When we first started excavating, we had no idea what this was,” he says. Christina Halperin at the University of Montreal. She and her colleagues made the discovery in 2022 at the Ucanal ruins in modern-day Guatemala.

Researchers found that beneath the structure of the pyramid temple, sediments were mixed with the rock. The deposit contained the bones of at least four people and thousands of ornamental fragments and beads. The bones of the two people and many of their ornaments showed signs of being burned at high temperatures.

It was clear this was no ordinary body, Halperin said. However, it was the nosepiece and obsidian eyeballs of the burial masks that revealed them as royal individuals. She says it “took forever” to sift these clues from the ashes.

Despite their apparently noble origins, the charred bodies of the royal family were not buried carefully and were “just dumped there,” Halperin said. Radiocarbon dating of the bones and ashes showed that at least one of him had died a century before his remains were burned between 773 and 881 AD. This suggests that the bones were exhumed from a previous burial and then burned.

This timing coincides with the rise of a new Ukanal leader, Papumaril, an outsider who assumed power amid the widespread dissolution of Maya society. In that context, the researchers found that the deposits were linked to the so-called “Burning Ceremony,” a Maya ritual that dramatically marked the destruction and demise of the previous dynasty and the prominence of the next. I think it may be a product. “This ritual seems to be both an act of worship and an act of destruction,” Halperin says.

simon martin Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say the discovery provides vivid physical evidence for the theory that influences from outside cultures contributed to fundamental changes in Maya society during this period. “These are our ancestors. They are our ancestors,” he says. “Doing something like this will ruin everything.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient Humans Made Their Homes in Lava Tubes in the Arabian Desert

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Researchers investigate Saudi Arabia's Umm Jirsan lava tube system

PALAEODESERTS project, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Archaeologists have discovered, for the first time, evidence of human habitation inside a lava tube in the desert of northern Saudi Arabia.

A lava tube is a cave formed during a volcanic eruption. The surface of the lava river cools and solidifies, but hot molten rock continues to flow beneath it. Eventually, the lava will drain out of the tube, leaving behind a tunnel.

Matthew Stewart He and his colleagues from Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, dug a trench inside Umm Jilsan. At 1.5 kilometers long, it is the largest lava tube in Saudi Arabia. Researchers found animal bones, stone tools and pottery dating back at least 7,000 years, and possibly 10,000 years.

Stewart and his team have been working in the area for more than 15 years and have uncovered numerous stone structures on the surface, confirming human habitation. However, the desert's hot and dry climate has degraded the organic material, making it difficult to determine its age.

The surface landscape is a “hot, dry, flat basalt desert,” Stewart said. “But when you're inside a lava tube, it's much cooler. It would have been a great refuge because it's so protected.”

“It's changing our understanding of the prehistory of the Arabian Peninsula,” he says.

Researchers also found human bones in parts of Umm Jilsan's underground network, which are believed to have been dragged in by hyenas.

Stewart and colleagues found rock art at other nearby lava tubes, including depictions of domesticated sheep and goats, that would have been made by “cultural contemporaries” of the group who used the tubes as shelters. he says, he discovered.

mike morley Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, describe lava tubes as like “prefabricated activity spaces.”

“As a scientist who works primarily in caves, I'm excited to see that there is another type of cave system used by humans in the past,” Morley says. “These discoveries represent a treasure trove of archaeological information in Arabia, a vast region whose prehistoric archeology has only recently been systematically investigated.”

It has also been suggested that lava tubes could be a place for humans to take refuge on the Moon or Mars.

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archeology/
ancient humans

Source: www.newscientist.com

Gigantic ancient ichthyosaur discovered on UK coast may be the biggest marine reptile in history

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Illustration of a carcass of Ichthyotitan severnensis washed up on the beach

Sergey Krasovsky

The fossilized remains of an ancient 200 million-year-old ichthyosaur unearthed on the coast of southwest England may be some of the largest marine reptiles ever discovered.

In 2020, amateur fossil hunters stumbled upon a huge chunk of bone at Blue Anchor Beach in Somerset. Upon further inspection, dean lomax He and his colleagues at the University of Manchester in England quickly realized that it was a fragment of the jawbone of a giant ichthyosaur, a type of reptile that roamed the oceans between 250 million and 90 million years ago. Noticed.

Subsequent excavations on the beach uncovered 11 more fragments, and the team was able to partially piece together the bone at the back of the jaw, called the mandible.

This latest discovery is A 2018 report describing a similar ichthyosaur jawbone Found on another Somerset beach. At the time, the research team did not have enough evidence to identify the species.

“It was clear that this was another giant jawbone,” Lomax said. “So I was very, very excited.”

After comparing the partial exohorn bone with the complete exoskeleton of other ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the entire bone was at least 2 meters long, meaning the animal was about 20 to 25 meters long.

“We're working on something really huge,” Lomax says. “It would definitely be the largest officially described marine reptile.”

The properties of the exoceratops, which match those reported in 2018, mean both fossils must belong to previously undescribed ichthyosaur species, Lomax said.named by the team Ichthyotitan severnensismeaning giant fish lizard of the River Severn.

The site is about 202 million years old, just before the great global extinction event that wiped out many species, including many giant ichthyosaurs.

“They are quite literally the last giants,” Lomax says. “No ichthyosaur will ever come close to this size again.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Discovery of Ancient Assyrian Scarab Seal in Israel

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

According to a team of experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Friborg, this unusual amulet seal is at least 2,800 years old (first temple period).

A 2,800-year-old amulet seal excavated from the Tel Rekesh ruins in Israel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The scarab, made of a semi-precious stone called carnelian, depicts either a mythical griffin creature or a galloping horse with wings,” said archaeologist Professor Osmar Kiel of the University of Friborg. .

“Similar scarabs are dated to the 8th century BC.”

“A beautiful scarab beetle was discovered at the foot of the mountain.” Tel Rekesh, one of the most important stories in Galilee. ”

“The location is identified as the town of ‘Anahrat’ in the territory of the tribe of Issachar (Joshua 19:19).”

“This is one of the most important finds at Tel Rekesh, dating from the Iron Age (7th-6th century BC),” added Dr. Itzik Paz, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“At that time, a large fortress appears to have been under the control of the Assyrian Empire, which was responsible for the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel.”

“Thus, the scarab found at the foot of Tell very likely proves Assyrian (or perhaps Babylonian) rule at the site.”

“The griffin motif on seals is a known artistic motif in ancient Near Eastern art and is commonly seen on Iron Age seals.”

“If we can actually date the seal, it may be possible to link it to the Assyrian presence at the Tell Rekesh fortress. This is a very important discovery.”

A 2,800 year old amulet seal. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The scarab is a type of seal that was widely used in the ancient world from the 4th millennium BC onwards,” the researchers explained.

“The scarab seal is shaped like a dung beetle, hence its name. The Egyptians considered the scarab to be a symbol of the creator god, so the Egyptian name comes from the verb 'to become' or 'to be created.' ” is derived from. ”

“Although scarabs were made from a variety of stones, including semi-precious stones such as amethyst and carnelian, most scarabs are made from steatite, a soft gray-white talcum stone, usually coated with a blue-green glaze. I was there.”

“Glaze persists only in dry climates such as Egypt, so the scarab found in Israel has very little trace of glaze. In this context, the deep orange color of this scarab is both unusual and striking. ”

The Assyrian scarab-shaped seal was discovered by Erez Abrahamov, 45, a resident of Peduel.

“I had two days off from working in the Israeli Defense Forces Reserve, so I decided to take advantage of the sunny days and go hiking,” Abrahamov said.

“As I was walking, I saw something shiny on the ground. At first I thought it was a bead or an orange stone.”

“When I picked it up, I noticed it was carved to look like a scarab or beetle.”

“I called the Israel Antiquities Authority and reported my amazing discovery.”

Source: www.sci.news

Discovery of ancient marine tapeworm preserved in 99-million-year-old amber

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others have discovered a partial fossil of an ancient tapeworm preserved in Kachin amber from Myanmar from the mid-Cretaceous period.

A 99-million-year-old amber fragment containing a tapeworm fossil (long tentacles) and other inclusions: (AB) Overall view of the amber fragment. (C) Trichophytes of Gleichenidae. (D) Scale insect larva. (E) Sand grains. Scale bar – 2 mm inches (A, B), 0.1 mm inches (CE).Image credit: Luo other., doi:10.1130/G52071.1.

Parasites, especially parasitoids, are ubiquitous in extant ecosystems but poorly preserved in the geological record.

One such group is Sestoda (tapeworms), a special group of internal parasites flatworm.

These organisms have complex life cycles with at least two hosts and infect all major vertebrate groups.

However, due to its soft tissue and hidden habitat, the fossil record is very sparse, with the only widely accepted example of a pre-Quaternary period being a shark egg found in a Permian coprolite. be.

The lack of body fossils greatly hinders our understanding of early evolution.

Dr. Bo Wang, a researcher at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: “The fossil record of tapeworms is extremely poor due to its soft tissue and endoparasite habitat, which is a major hindrance in understanding its early evolution. ''. Science.

The new fossil exhibits unique external (armature pattern) and internal (partially invaginated tentacles and rootless hooks) features that are most consistent with extant tentacles. Trypanolhynch tapeworm Parasitic substances of marine life elasmobranch (mainly sharks and rays).

“This discovery is the most convincing platyzoan fossil ever discovered,” said Dr. Cihang Luo. candidate at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“Our study provides an exceptional example of a marine endoparasite trapped in amber and also sheds new light on amber taphonomy.”

“Specifically, we showed that amber can preserve the internal structure of helminths.”

“Using high-resolution micro-CT, we discovered that inside the modern fossil, a folded vertical structure extending spirally around the longitudinal axis extends to the very front. It matches the tentacle you entered.”

“On the other hand, rootless hooks are the same as trypanorhynch hooks.”

“Previous studies have shown that internal structures can be preserved intact, similar to modern forms, but all such studies have focused on arthropods.”

A hypothetical ecological recreation of the Trypanorhynch tapeworm fossil. Image credit: Dinghua Yang / Luo other., doi:10.1130/G52071.1.

“Our results show that amber can preserve the internal structure of helminths such as tapeworms over geological time scales,” Dr. Wang said.

“In addition to remarkable examples of marine endoparasites trapped in amber, several Gleichenia trichomes and scale insect larvae were also preserved in the same amber specimen along with partial insect remains. I did.”

“This clearly indicates that it was in a terrestrial or terrestrial environment at the time it was trapped in the resin.”

“Additionally, many sand grains are evenly distributed throughout the amber, suggesting that the fossil was buried in a sandy environment.”

“Furthermore, evidence so far indicates that Kachin amber was deposited in a near-shore environment.”

“One possible scenario for the tapeworm being deposited in the amber is that its elasmobranch host became stranded by tides or storms.”

“In such a scenario, the host would have been bitten by a high level of terrestrial predator or scavenger.”

“When the host was consumed by a predator, the tentacles were pulled apart, detached from the intestine, and attached to nearby resin.”

“Our study further supports the hypothesis that Kachin amber was probably deposited in a paleoenvironment in the Pala region, and also highlights the importance of amber studies in paleoparasitology.”

team's paper It was published in the magazine geology.

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Jikyoura other. Exceptional preservation of marine tapeworm tentacles preserved in Cretaceous amber. geology, published online March 22, 2024. doi: 10.1130/G52071.1

Source: www.sci.news

Romantic Inscription Found on Ancient Silver Thimble in Wales

Posted on March 26, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A post-medieval silver thimble was discovered by Robert Edwards while metal detecting in Pembrokeshire, a county in south-west Wales.

An ancient silver thimble discovered in the Carew community in Pembrokeshire, Wales.Image credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum of Wales

“I was searching behind an oak tree and had no success until I changed the program and found a very clear signal,” Edwards said.

“At first I thought it was a sixpence, but to my surprise it was not a coin, but a silver piece!”

“When I later saw a similar waffle pattern on another thimble, I knew I had found something special.”

“To be honest, my cousin who is also my detection partner was a little jealous!”

“I like to think about who used it,” he added.

“Was it used in the castle we saw on the way?” Did someone get into trouble by losing it? I'm so happy to be able to share it with you all. ”

According to experts, Amgefa Cymru – Museum of Walesthe ancient thimble is tall and narrow, but heavy.

This artifact is a two-piece construction with a rounded top soldered to the main body.

Six horizontal bands are placed in a zigzag pattern around the body and overlaid on an incised brick or basket weave pattern.

“'' is engraved at the base of the band.I still love you like' Roman capital in serif font.

The researchers said: “Posey's inscription appears on several 17th-century silver thimbles found across England and Wales.”

“The Cardiff, Kent and Hampshire examples were all reported through the Treasure Act 1996.”

“Such romantic passages are very similar to those found on modern posey rings,” they added.

“Perhaps a thimble, worn on one's finger while sewing, was considered an intimate (and therefore romantic) possession, suitable as a gift between lovers.”

Source: www.sci.news

What similarities do ancient Egyptians and octopuses share?

Posted on March 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Historically, the brain was not always recognized as the center of thought. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the heart held intellect and the soul, resulting in the preservation of the heart in mummified bodies, while the brain was discarded.

In the 5th century B.C., Greek scholar Alcmaion of Croton made claims about the brain, but two centuries later, Aristotle still upheld the belief that the heart was the seat of intelligence.

Octopuses are an interesting example, as about two-thirds of their neurons are found in their tentacles, allowing for semi-independent responses to stimuli. This challenges the idea of a central location for thought.

Advancements in AI models, like ChatGPT, show that conscious thought can be produced without physical sense organs, resembling human thought processes.

While modern neuroscience confirms that the brain controls perception, thinking, and language, cultural and religious beliefs can shape ideas about consciousness and its origins.

In various indigenous cultures, consciousness is often associated with spirits or ancestors, separate from the physical body. Sensations like hunger and pain also demonstrate that thought is not solely contained in the brain.

If our brains and stomachs were reversed, we might view conscious thought as originating in the stomach, with the head serving as a sensory and input location.

This article explores the question of whether we would “think from our stomachs” if our brains were located there, reflecting on the nature of consciousness.

If you have any questions, please email us at: questions@sciencefocus.com or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Explore more interesting information and amazing science topics on our website.

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Astronomers Uncover Two Ancient Substructures within the Milky Way

Posted on March 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The newly identified structures, called Shakti and Shiva, are between 12 billion and 1 billion years old, making them so old that they are even older than the spiral arms and oldest parts of the present-day Milky Way galaxy's disk. may have been formed before.

This image shows the location and distribution of Shakti (yellow) and Shiva (blue) stars throughout the Milky Way. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC / K. Malhan.

“What's really amazing is that we can detect these ancient structures at all,” said Dr. Kati Malhan, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.

“The Milky Way has changed so much since these stars were born that we didn't expect to be able to see them so clearly as a group. But the unprecedented data obtained from ESA's Gaia satellite Thanks to you, this is possible.”

Using Gaia observations, Dr. Mulhan and Dr. Hans-Walter Rix of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy were able to determine the orbits of individual stars in the Milky Way, as well as their content and composition.

“When we visualized the orbits of all these stars, we found that two new structures stood out from the rest among stars of certain chemical compositions. We named them Shakti and Shiva. '' said Cati.

Each stream contains the mass of about 10 million suns, and the stars, all 12 to 13 billion years old, have similar compositions and move in very similar orbits.

The way they are distributed suggests that they may have formed as separate pieces that merged with the Milky Way early in their lives.

Shakti and Shiva both lie towards the center of the Milky Way.

Gaia explored this part of the Milky Way in 2022 using a type of galactic archaeology. This indicates that this region is filled with the oldest stars in the entire galaxy, all of which were born before the Milky Way disk was properly formed.

“The stars there are so old that they lack many of the heavy metal elements that were created later in the life of the universe,” Dr. Ricks says.

“Because the stars at the center of our galaxy are metal-poor, we named this region the 'poor old heart' of the Milky Way.”

“Until now, we were only aware of very early fragments that came together to form the ancient core of the Milky Way.”

“In Shakti and Shiva we see the first works that appear to be relatively ancient but are located further out.”

“These represent the first steps in the galaxy's growth towards its current size.”

The two streams are very similar, but not identical. The star Shakti orbits a little farther from the center of the Milky Way galaxy and has a more circular orbit than the star Shiva.

Fittingly, these streams are named after the divine couple in Hindu philosophy who come together to create the universe.

About 12 billion years ago, the Milky Way was very different from the orderly spiral we see today.

They believe that our galaxy was formed by the merging of multiple long, irregular filaments of gas and dust that all formed stars and intertwined, giving rise to the galaxy as we know it. It is being

Shaki and Shiva appear to be two of these components, and future Gaia data releases may reveal more.

The authors also created a dynamic map of other known components that play a role in galaxy formation and were discovered using Gaia data.

These include Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus, LMS1/Wukong, Arjuna/Sequoia/I'itoi, and Pontus.

These groups of stars all form part of the Milky Way's complex genealogy that Gaia has been working to build over the past decade.

Dr Timo Prusti, ESA astronomer and Gaia project scientist, said: “Learning more about the early life of the Milky Way is one of Gaia's goals, and we are well on our way to achieving it.”

“To understand how our galaxy formed and evolved, we need to pinpoint subtle but crucial differences between the Milky Way's stars.”

“This requires incredibly accurate data, and now, thanks to Gaia, we have that data.”

“As we discover surprising parts of our galaxy, such as the Shiva and Shakti rivers, we are filling in the gaps and painting a complete picture not just of our current homeland, but of the earliest history of the universe.”

of study Published in astrophysical journal.

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Catty Mulhan & Hans-Walter Ricks. 2024. Shiva and Shakti: A fragment of a primordial galaxy presumed to be inside the Milky Way. APJ 964, 104; doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad1885

Source: www.sci.news

Ancient Canoe Uncovers Early Advances in Navigation Technology

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

More than 7,000 years ago, Neolithic people used technologically sophisticated boats to navigate the Mediterranean Sea, according to a new study.

The 7,300-year-old canoe Marmotta 1 is on display at the Museum of Civilization in Rome. It is a huge dugout canoe made from an oak trunk, approximately 10.43 meters long, 1.15 meters wide at the stern, and 0.85 meters wide at the bow. Depending on the part of the canoe, the height is 65 to 44 cm. Image credit: Gibaja other., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299765.

Many of Europe's most important civilizations were born along the Mediterranean coast.

The Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Carthaginians took advantage of the virtually enclosed sea to move quickly between islands along the coast.

At various times in history, the Mediterranean Sea has been a space of travel and a means of communication.

However, one of the major migration phenomena in history occurred during the Neolithic period, when rural societies began to spread around Europe and North Africa.

The beginning of the Neolithic period is recorded in the Near East around 10,000 BC, but communities from that region gradually occupied the entire Mediterranean Sea around 7500-7000 BC, reaching the coast of Portugal around 5400 BC.

In a new study, Dr. Juan Guibaja and colleagues from Spain's National Research Council dug out a tree from La Marmotta, a Neolithic lakeside village near Rome, Italy, between 5700 and 5100 BC. Five dugout canoes that were built were investigated.

Analysis revealed that the canoe was constructed from four types of wood, which is unusual for similar sites, and incorporated advanced construction techniques such as lateral reinforcement.

Three T-shaped wooden objects are also associated with one canoe, each with a series of holes that may have been used to secure ropes tied to sails or other nautical elements. there is.

These features, together with previous reconstruction experiments, indicate that these are seaworthy vessels, a conclusion supported by the presence of stone tools associated with nearby islands.

“These canoes are exceptional examples of prehistoric vessels, and their construction required a well-organized and specialized workforce, as well as a detailed understanding of structural design and wood properties,” the researchers said. said.

“The similarities between these canoes and modern navigation technology support the idea that many major advances in sailing took place during the early Neolithic period.”

“Direct dating of a Neolithic canoe discovered at La Marmotta reveals it to be the oldest in the Mediterranean and provides valuable insight into Neolithic navigation,” the study said. they added.

“Our research reveals the remarkable technological sophistication of early agricultural and pastoral communities, highlighting their woodworking skills and complex shipbuilding.”

of study Published in an online journal PLoS ONE.

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JF Gibaha other. 2024. The first Neolithic ship in the Mediterranean: the settlement of La Marmotta (Anguillara Sabazia, Lazio, Italy). PLoS ONE 19 (3): e0299765; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299765

Source: www.sci.news

Discovering how humans survived the super-eruption of the Toba volcano through an ancient campsite

Posted on March 21, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Ruins in the Ethiopian lowlands where ancient humans lived 74,000 years ago

John Kappelman

A campsite in what is now Ethiopia may have been used in the years before, during, and after a massive volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago that changed the Earth’s climate.

The eruption of supervolcano Toba on the Indonesian island of Sumatra was the largest eruption on Earth in the past 2 million years. Some researchers believe it may have caused a volcanic winter that lasted several years and wiped out most humans alive at the time, but the magnitude of that effect is debated .

Bones found at Ethiopian ruins suggest people living there had to adapt their diet to survive the dry year or two after the eruption, but the effects were mild It seems like it was.

“It was a pretty lucky discovery,” he says. John Kappelman A team from the University of Texas at Austin discovered the site in 2002. “There’s no question about that.”

Most of the remains of early humans are caves that were inhabited for tens of thousands of years, he says. However, this camp is an outdoor location near the Simfa River, a tributary of the Blue Nile. “Our intuition is that this place has probably been occupied for about five to 10 years,” Kappelman said.

The researchers found thousands of stone fragments from the tool’s manufacture, along with several stone tips believed to be among the oldest arrowheads ever discovered. “We have evidence of archery in the form of these small stone points,” Kappelman says.

Researchers also found ostrich eggshells and numerous animal bones, some with cuts and signs of cooking. Therefore, it is believed that people brought animals back to the site for slaughter and cooking.

The researchers also found volcanic ash in the form of tiny glass shards, known as cryptephra, in the middle of layers of sediment containing stone chips and bones. “They’re just tiny little glass shards,” Kappelman says – and their composition matches other debris from the Toba supereruption.

Isotopic analysis of ostrich shells suggests that the climate became drier after the eruption. This is consistent with a four-fold increase in the amount of fish carcasses identified and a decrease in other types of animal carcasses.

The research team explains that the Shinfa River is seasonal, and during the dry season it dries up to create a water hole. Immediately after the Toba eruption, the dry season was long, making it easier to catch fish in the narrowed water holes. The researchers suggest that this compensated for the decline in terrestrial predators.

Over the next few years, food debris returned to pre-eruption levels and there were no signs of mass mortality, Kappelman said.

Other researchers argue that early humans moved to wetter areas as conditions dried, he says. For this reason, it is also believed that the migration of people from Africa took place during times when the climate was wetter, allowing them to survive in the usually arid region between Africa and Eurasia.

“Our remains show that humans adapted to seasonally dry conditions,” Kappelmann says. He thinks this means that the migration of modern humans from Africa, which may have occurred as recently as 65,000 or 60,000 years ago, may have occurred during a dry period.

However, Kappelman agrees that early migration from Africa by less sophisticated peoples may have been limited to wet periods.

“This is an interesting paper for many reasons: the likely precise link to the Toba supereruption, environmental evidence, survival behaviors including fishing, the possible use of bows and arrows, and the possibility that it facilitated dispersal from Africa. “A certain behavioral adaptation,” says chris stringer At the Natural History Museum in London.

“While each of these proposals will certainly stimulate debate, I think the authors have presented a plausible, if not conclusive, case for each scenario they propose,” he says.

The study also adds to the evidence that the global effects of the Toba supereruption were relatively small and short-lived, Stringer said.

but stanley ambrose One researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign believes that Toba wiped out most humans, but he disagrees. He said the site may represent a much longer period of time than Kappelman’s team thinks, meaning the impact on people could have been much greater. There is.

“Material deposited by humans long before and long after the eruption, perhaps centuries to more than a thousand years ago, was deposited by well-known disturbance processes such as rodent burrowing and cracks forming during desiccation. It could have been juxtaposed with a volcanic ash layer, season,” Ambrose says.

Source: www.newscientist.com

Clues from ancient canoes suggest thriving trade in the Mediterranean region 7,000 years ago

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Canoes are up to 10 meters long and are made by hollowing out trees.

Gibaja et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0

More than 7,000 years ago, skilled craftsmen built wooden canoes to probably transport people, animals, and goods across the Mediterranean.

Scientists identified five boats with evidence of advanced navigation techniques, such as lateral bracing and towing attachments. The canoe, found in a freshwater lake and inadvertently kept secret for decades, likely enabled trade and transportation between Mediterranean farming communities during the Neolithic period. Niccolo Mazzucco At the University of Pisa, Italy.

Along with the well-preserved village where they were discovered, the canoes “opened a window into the past,” he says.

In 1989, Italian researchers discovered a site buried beneath a lake slightly northwest of Rome, 38 kilometers upstream from the west coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and named it La Marmotta. In addition to several wooden buildings, a dugout canoe made by burning and hollowing out wood was also found.

Despite these discoveries, the language barrier prevented it from becoming internationally famous, and almost all relevant information was only published in Italian, it said. Mario Mineo At the Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome, which took part in the discovery.

Now, Mazzucco, Mineo, and their colleagues have made new observations of these canoes using modern methods and shared their findings in English.

Lasse Sorensen David, from the National Museum of Denmark, who was not involved in the study, said he was unaware of these boats, despite having done extensive research on dugout canoes in Scandinavia.

He is particularly intrigued by a wooden T-shaped device attached to the canoe. Holes drilled in them suggest that they were probably used for ropes, implying that the boat was being towed. That way, Sorensen said, he would have been able to transport “more people, more animals, more goods.” “So these details are very important because they provide evidence of how they were actually able to transport large quantities of goods.”

Using the latest carbon dating techniques, the research team dated each ship to 6,000 BC. The two oldest ships were built in 5620 BC, and the newest in 5045 BC. Carbon dating of one of the T-shaped accessories revealed that it was made around 5470 BC.

The length of the boat is up to 10 meters. Its size suggests it was used at sea, Mazzucco said. Recent tests of replicas of these canoes confirmed that The original would have been seaworthy. Foreign grains, livestock remains, and stones found in the village indicate that the villagers were trading across the Mediterranean region.

To identify the wood used to build the boats, the team cut nine thin wood samples from each canoe. After analyzing them under a microscope, the researchers determined that two of the boats, including the oldest, were made from alder wood, which is lightweight and resistant to splintering and cracking. The newest boats were made of durable and rot-resistant oak, while the other two were made of poplar and beech.

“They probably had a good knowledge of wood types and their properties, so they selected them and used them based on those properties,” Mazzucco says. “They worked with wood with the same knowledge as today's carpenters, just with different tools.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Pompeii in England: Remarkably Preserved Bronze Age Village Offers Glimpse into Ancient Life

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

An intact ax with an intact handle was found under one of the burnt structures on the grounds of Mast Farm.

cambridge archaeological unit

The ruins of a Bronze Age settlement in eastern England have been beautifully preserved after being destroyed by fire 3000 years ago. Exploring the ruins provides an incredible snapshot of how the British lived at the time, from what people ate for breakfast to the tools they used to build their homes.

Archaeologists first discovered the ancient wooden pillars in 1999 at the Mast Farm quarry near the small town of Whittlesea. A subsequent small-scale study tried to figure out if there was anything interesting there, he said. chris wakefield at the University of York, UK. But it wasn’t until his 2015 that Wakefield and his colleagues conducted serious excavations at the site.

The research team discovered the structural remains of four large circular dwellings (usually wooden circular dwellings with conical thatched roofs) dating from 3,000 to 2,800 years ago. Tree stumps suggest that it was built on raised platforms connected by wooden walkways over a small river that flows through the area. Judging by the size of the waterway, there may have been about 10 roundhouses in the settlement, Wakefield said.

Tree-ring analysis of wood taken from the structure suggests that the settlement was destroyed a year after its construction, with the houses falling into the muddy waters below. Wakefield said the waterlogged, oxygen-depleted environment prevented the settlement from deteriorating, resulting in its unprecedented level of preservation. The charring of objects by fire also served as a protective layer against environmental decay. “Almost everything that was in these people’s homes at the time of the fire has been preserved and is still being discovered nearly 3,000 years later,” Wakefield said.

The way items fell into the mud provided clues as to the layout of each house. Stepping through the door, the kitchen area tended to be on the east side of the house, with the sleeping area to the northwest and the livestock pens to the southeast.

Chemical analysis of kitchen utensils such as pots, bowls, cups and jars suggests that the settlement’s prehistoric inhabitants probably ate porridge, cereals, honey and stews made from beef, mutton and fish. .

“This is the best evidence we have for understanding prehistoric diets and cooking methods,” he says. Rachel Pope At the University of Liverpool, UK. “This is the closest you will ever get to walking through the doorways of a 3,000-year-old roundhouse and finding out what life was like inside.”

Illustration depicting daily life at one of the mast farm structures

Judith Dobie/Historic England

A toolbox filled with axes, sickles, and razors was a staple in every household. “One of the most beautiful things one of my colleagues found was an amazing two-part axe,” Wakefield says. “What’s amazing about this particular design is that the ax head itself is inserted into an additional piece of wood that can be replaced.”

The clothes recovered at the scene had a lush, velvety feel and were made from the finest fibers produced in Europe at the time, Wakefield said. Decorative beads, which may have been used in necklaces, have also been found throughout the site, and likely came from elsewhere in Europe or the Middle East.

The settlement has been likened to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, which was buried in ash after a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. “Archaeologists sometimes talk about Pompeii-like discoveries, moments where time stood still, and this is one of them. Burnt-out settlements offer evidence of the time just before and after the fire some 2,900 years ago. It gives us a detailed look into people’s lives in the months leading up to it.” michael parker pearson At University College London.

“Mast Farm is not a once-in-a-generation site. It is very likely that there will never be another site that tells more about Bronze Age Britain.” Richard Maggwick At Cardiff University, UK.

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archeology/
ancient humans

Source: www.newscientist.com

Archaeologists unearth ancient fishing hook in Indonesia

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Many individuals engage in fishing for both sustenance and recreation in modern times. Ever pondered about the origins of fishing? While fishing has been a part of human history for centuries, the limited discovery of ancient fishing hooks poses a challenge in uncovering the details of past fishing practices.

Although fishhooks dating back over 20,000 years have been unearthed, those found on coastlines or excavation sites older than approximately 12,000 years are scarce. However, recent discoveries by researchers from Australia and Indonesia have shed light on this subject.

In Makupang Cave on Indonesia’s Alor Island, a significant collection of 239 fishing artifacts estimated to be up to 15,000 years old was uncovered. Most of these artifacts date back to a period between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago, including 218 fishing hooks and fragments. Makpan, located on the southwest coast of Alor, was identified as a convenient storage spot for ancient fishing equipment due to its proximity to the sea, even during periods of lower sea levels, such as the last ice age approximately 25,000 years ago.

During excavations at Makupang, the research team carefully removed accumulated layers of soil and dust to uncover the ancient fishing hooks. The sediment from the cave entrance was meticulously examined through a 1.5-millimeter mesh sieve. Other fishing remnants, including hooks and fragments, were recovered and analyzed under a powerful microscope to determine the ancient techniques used in their production.

The researchers identified various types of hooks, including jab hooks, rotating hooks, and sinkers, as well as possible fishing lures. These hooks, ranging from 9 to 50 millimeters in size, were predominantly crafted from shellfish such as limpets, Rokia, and turbo. By studying the tool collection, researchers could discern the process of hook-making, which indicated multiple craftsmen involved in the production.

The discovery in Makupang Cave is considered remarkable due to the abundance of fishing artifacts found, surpassing previous finds from the same period by more than five times. Ongoing research at the site is anticipated to offer further insights into ancient fishing practices.

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Source: sciworthy.com

Study finds that ancient whale Percetus was no heavier than today’s blue whales

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologists at the University of California, Davis and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History estimate that: Colossus of PercetusA gigantic basilosaur whale that lived in the Eocene of Peru and was 17 meters long and weighed between 60 and 70 tons.

reconstruction of Colossus of Percetus in coastal habitats. related sawfish, Pristis, recovered from the same unit in the East Pisco Basin, Yumac, Paracas Formation, Peru. Image credit: A. Gennari.

Colossus of Percetus They lived in what is now Peru about 39 million years ago (Eocene epoch).

This species was first described in 2023. Basilosauridaean extinct cetacean family that lived in the Eocene and is known on all continents, including Antarctica.

“Colossus of Percetus“The bones are unusually dense,” said Ryosuke Motani, a professor at the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Nicholas Pienson of the Smithsonian Institution.

“Mammal bones are usually solid on the outside and spongy or hollow in the center. In some animals, much of the center is filled with solid bone, which makes it denser and heavier. There are some that are.”

“In aquatic animals, heavy bones offset the buoyancy of body fat and fat, allowing them to maintain neutral buoyancy underwater or, in the case of hippos, to walk on riverbeds.”

“Fossil whale bones have an extensively filled interior and an overgrowth of bone on the outside. A condition called pachyostosis is also found in some modern aquatic mammals, such as manatees. .”

In 2023, paleontologists estimated the weight of the following people: Colossus of Percetus 180 metric tons (range from 85 to 340 metric tons).

This results in Colossus of Percetus Despite being much shorter at 17 meters (17 meters) compared to the 30 meters (30 meters) of the blue whale, it weighs as much or more than the largest known blue whale.

“These estimates indicate that Colossus of Percetus It's incredibly dense,” Professor Motani said.

“It would have been a whale's job to stay on the surface and get out of the ocean. To do anything underwater, it would have had to keep swimming against gravity.”

The authors reviewed the assumptions used to make these estimates.

“The first problem is that the original study used fossil bones to estimate skeletal weight, and assumed that skeletal and non-skeletal mass increases at the same rate as body size increases, which increases the total animal weight. “It's an extrapolation,” they said.

“But measurements in other animals show that this is not the case.”

“Initial estimates also overestimated how much overall weight would increase as a result of hypertrophy.”

“However, the evidence for manatees shows that their bodies are relatively light compared to their skeletal mass.”

Professor Motani and Dr Pienson estimate the total length to be 17 meters. Colossus of Percetus It weighs between 60 and 70 tons, much lighter than any known blue whale.

individuals of Colossus of Percetus A whale that grows to 20 meters can weigh more than 110 tons, but that's still a long way off the 270 tons of the largest blue whale.

“Thanks to the new weight, the whale, like most whales, is able to rise to the surface and remain there while breathing and recovering from the dive,” Professor Motani said.

of result Published in an online magazine Peer J.

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R. Motani and N.D. Pienson. 2024. Downsizing in the heavy class: Factors and methods for revising mass estimates of giant fossil whales. Colossus of Percetus. Peer J 12: e16978; doi: 10.7717/peerj.16978

Source: www.sci.news

Why do our ancient animal ancestors possess tails?

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

WASHINGTON — Tails were once a feature of our ancient animal ancestors. Why did they disappear?

Around 20 to 25 million years ago, during the split between apes and monkeys, the evolutionary branches of our family tree shed their tails. Scientists have been puzzled about the reasons behind this change since the time of Darwin.

Now, a group of researchers has pinpointed at least one crucial genetic mutation that played a role in this transformation.

“We identified a single mutation in a highly important gene,” explained Beau Xia, a geneticist at the Broad Institute and one of the authors of the study that was recently published in Nature magazine.

By comparing the genetic makeup of six types of great apes, including humans, and 15 species of tailed monkeys, researchers found significant genetic differences between the two groups. To test their hypothesis, they used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to alter the same genetic spot in mouse embryos, leading to the birth of tailless mice.

Xia cautioned that there may be other genetic factors contributing to the loss of tails.

An intriguing aspect of this evolutionary change is whether the absence of tails conferred an advantage to our ape ancestors and ultimately to humans. Was it a random mutation or did it serve a purpose in survival?

“It could have been purely coincidental, but it may have provided a significant evolutionary benefit,” suggested Miriam Konkel, an evolutionary geneticist at Clemson University who was not part of the study.

Various theories speculate on the advantages of being tailless. Some suggest that it may be linked to the development of upright walking in humans.

Rick Potts, who leads the Human Origins Project at the Smithsonian Institution and was not involved in this study, believes that the absence of tails in some apes could be due to their vertical posture even when still in trees. This transition might have been the initial step.

Although not all great apes are land dwellers, orangutans and gibbons are examples of tailless apes that continue to live in trees. Their movements differ significantly from monkeys, as they do not need tails for balance while moving among branches.

Study co-author Itai Yanai, a biologist at New York University, acknowledges that losing the tail was a major change. However, the true reasons behind it remain a mystery that can only be unraveled with a time machine.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Webb uncovers incredible black hole in the ancient cosmos

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers observed a very red quasar-like object. A2744-QSO1 Its color suggests that A2744-QSO1's black hole lies behind a thick veil of dust obscuring much of its light. The researchers also measured the black hole's mass (40 million solar masses) and found it to be much more massive compared to its host galaxy than what has been seen in more localized examples. . This discovery suggests that it may represent the missing link between black hole seeds and the first luminescent quasars.

A composite color image of A2744-QSO1. Image credit: Furutaku other, doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8.

“We were very excited when Webb started transmitting its first data,” said Dr. Lukas Furtak, a postdoctoral researcher at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

“As we were scanning the data coming in for the UNCOVER program, three very compact objects with red flowers stood out to us.”

“Because of its 'red dot' appearance, we immediately suspected it to be a quasar-like object.”

“Using a numerical lensing model we built for the Abell 2744 galaxy cluster, we found that the three red dots are multiples of the same background light source seen when the universe was just 700 million years old. “We determined that it must be an image of Adi Zitlin, also from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev.

“Analysis of the object's color shows that it is not a typical star-forming galaxy,” said Professor Rachel Bezanson, an astronomer at the University of Pittsburgh.

“This further supports the supermassive black hole hypothesis.”

“Together with its compact size, it became clear that this was probably a supermassive black hole, but it was still different from other quasars discovered earlier.”

The astronomers then analyzed the JWST/NIRSpec spectrum of A2744-QSO1.

“The spectrum was just shocking,” said Professor Ivo Rabe of Swinburne University of Technology.

“The spectrum obtained by combining the signals from the three images and the lens magnification corresponds to 1,700 hours that Webb observed the object without a lens, making it the deepest spectrum Webb obtained for a single object in the early universe. Masu.”

“Using the spectrum, we were able to not only confirm that this red compact object is a supermassive black hole and measure its precise redshift, but also estimate its mass based on the width of its emission line. We were able to get a solid estimate,” Dr. Furtak said.

“The gas orbits the black hole's gravitational field, achieving extremely high velocities not seen in other parts of the galaxy.”

“Due to the Doppler shift, the light emitted from the accreting material is redshifted on one side and blueshifted on the other side, depending on its velocity.”

“This makes the emission lines in the spectrum wider.”

But this measurement brought yet another surprise. The black hole's mass appears to be disproportionately large compared to the mass of its host galaxy.

“All the light in that galaxy would have to fit within a small region about the size of a modern star cluster,” said Dr. Jenny Green, an astronomer at Princeton University.

“The source's gravitational lensing magnification provided an exquisite constraint on size.”

“Even if you pack all possible stars into such a small region, the black hole will end up being at least 1% of the total mass of the system.”

“In fact, it has now been discovered that several other supermassive black holes in the early Universe exhibit similar behavior, which provides insight into the growth of black holes and host galaxies, and the interactions between them. This provides some interesting insights, but this is not well understood.”

Astronomers do not know whether such supermassive black holes grow from the remains of stars, for example, or perhaps from material that collapsed directly into black holes in the early universe.

“In some ways, this is an astrophysical chicken-and-egg problem,” says Professor Zitlin.

“Currently we don't know whether galaxies or black holes formed first, how big the first black holes were, and how they grew.”

“Recently, many more such 'little red dots' and other active galactic nuclei have been detected in the Webb, so we hope to have a better idea soon.”

of the team result appear in the diary Nature.

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LJ Furutak other. High black hole-to-host mass ratio in the lensed AGN of the early Universe. Nature, published online on February 14, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07184-8

Source: www.sci.news

Can Wasabi Aid in Preserving Ancient Egyptian Papyrus Artifacts?

Posted on February 27, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Ancient Egyptian papyrus scrolls can be damaged by fungi

Paul Williams / Alamy

Wasabi steam is powerful enough to kill fungi growing on painted papyrus pieces without damaging the fragile craft or altering the appearance of the vibrant colors.

A unique disinfection strategy could help archaeologists and museums preserve documents written on paper made from the papyrus plant, which has been used for thousands of years in ancient Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire. “Biological degradation of papyrus is a global problem,” he says. Hanadi Saada At the Grand Egyptian Museum in Egypt.

Fungi can damage delicate papyrus, but some disinfectants can be harmful as well. So Sarda and his colleagues are researching less irritating, “greener” treatments. In this experiment, a paste of wasabi (a popular Japanese seasoning derived from a plant related to horseradish and mustard) was mixed and placed on aluminum foil next to a papyrus sample.

Instead of risking historic papyrus artifacts, researchers prepared replicas for experiments. Samples of modern papyrus were painted in different colors such as red, yellow, and blue and heated in an oven at 100°C (212°F) for 120 days to simulate the natural aging of papyrus over 1000 years. . Finally, they were exposed to several fungal species known to parasitize archaeological papyri.

After 3 days, wasabi treatment removed the fungal contamination without affecting the pigments of the papyrus samples. A follow-up test 1 month later showed the same results.

Current papyrus storage methods include folders lined with special blotting material to protect against changes in humidity, which it says is a “passive method to prevent fungal growth and deterioration.” I am. jessica byler At the Penn Museum in Pennsylvania.

However, Beiler acknowledges that using standard methods does not always guarantee fungal prevention, and that is why “our team of conservators is working to improve the environment in the field of conservation.” I'm interested in learning more about innovative technology.”

A team at the Grand Egyptian Museum is planning to use wasabi treatment on archaeological papyri. The researchers also plan to test whether the spicy condiment is equally effective at disinfecting other crafts made of wood, paper and textiles.

topic:

Source: www.newscientist.com

Possible hydrothermal system found on ancient Mars

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The history of water on Mars is an interesting mystery not only to planetary scientists but also to the general public. The Red Planet currently has water in the form of ice at its poles, trace amounts of gas in its atmosphere, and an unknown amount of groundwater below the surface bound to minerals and ice. However, there is strong evidence that ancient Mars may have had long-lived streams, rivers, and lakes. There is still much to learn about what Mars was like and how it has changed over time. One approach is to examine water inventories at different points in time. This time, NASA's Perseverance spacecraft discovered hydrated magnesium sulfate (similar to Epsom salts) and dehydrated magnesium sulfate (similar to Epsom salts) formed by water flowing through cracks in the volcanic rock at the floor of the 3.8 billion-year-old Jezero Crater. Discovered calcium sulfate. These hydrated minerals trap water inside and record the history of when and how they were formed. Returning samples of these minerals to Earth will allow researchers to examine Mars' water and climate history, and perhaps evidence of ancient life, using the most sensitive instruments possible.

Jezero Crater on Mars. Image credit: NASA/Tim Goudge.

Planetary scientists believe that Mars may once have had long-lived rivers, lakes, and streams.

Currently, water on Mars exists in polar ice and is trapped beneath the planet's surface.

In a new study, Dr. Andy Zaja and his colleagues at the University of Cincinnati show that the hydrothermal system based on hydrated magnesium sulfate that the rover identified in volcanic rocks may have existed on this planet. revealed.

“When these rocks cool and break down, they become habitable for life,” Dr Chaya said.

“We have yet to find conclusive evidence of life in these deposits. But if fossil microbes were trapped within the rocks, they would be too small to be seen by spacecraft. ”

“These hydrated minerals trap water inside and record the history of how and when they formed.”

“Bringing samples of these minerals back to Earth will allow researchers to examine Mars' water and climate history, and possibly evidence of ancient life, using the most sensitive instruments possible.”

Perseverance began a systematic exploration from the bottom of the crater to the front of a delta formed by ancient rivers and drainage channels. There he encountered sedimentary rocks containing trapped minerals and another avenue for evidence of ancient life.

And last year, the rover reached the rim of the crater, once a huge lake, and is investigating deposits of magnesium carbonate, which can be formed geologically or biologically from bacteria.

“The decision to send Perseverance to Jezero Crater appears to be paying off,” Dr. Zaja said.

“There were other places I could have gone that could have been just as good.”

“We won't know until we investigate everything. But there was a good reason why Jezero was chosen, and it was completely justified.”

Next, the rover will leave Jezero Crater and explore a larger area.

“We are likely to find rocks that are more than 4 billion years old,” Dr. Zaya said.

“And Mars may have stromatolites and rocks that contain evidence of ancient layered bacterial mats that are visible to the naked eye.”

“On Earth, these rocks can be found in extreme environments such as geyser basins.”

“We hope Perseverance whets our appetite for further exploration of Mars.”

“And once we bring the samples back, we'll be able to study Mars for years to come with instruments that haven't been invented yet, looking for evidence of ancient life.”

of result ” Published in the January 2024 issue. Geophysical Research Journal: Planets.

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Sandra Siljestrom other. Evidence of alteration of sulfate-rich fluids at the floor of Jezero Crater on Mars. JGR: Planet 129 (1): e2023JE007989; doi: 10.1029/2023JE00798

Source: www.sci.news

Research: Vertebrate Brain Resembles an Ancient Retrovirus

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Biologists from the Altos Institute, Cambridge Institute of Science, and the University of Cambridge have discovered that genetic elements derived from retroviruses (retrotransposons) are essential for the production of myelin (the insulating sheath that surrounds nerve axons) in mammals, amphibians, and animals. I discovered that fish. This gene sequence, called retromyelin, is likely the result of an ancient retroviral infection, and comparisons of retromyelin in mammals, amphibians, and fish indicate that retroviral infection and genome invasion events occurred separately in each of these groups. suggests that it has occurred.

gauche other. suggest that retrovirus internalization played an important role in the emergence of vertebrate myelin. Image credit: Ghosh other., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.011.

Myelin, the complex fatty tissue that lines vertebrate nerve axons, allows rapid impulse conduction without the need to increase axon diameter. This means that the nerves can be packed more closely together.

It also provides metabolic support for the nerves, allowing them to lengthen.

Myelin first appeared on the tree of life around the same time as the jaw, and its importance in vertebrate evolution has been recognized for a long time, but until now it is unclear what molecular mechanism caused its appearance. was.

Tanay Ghosh and colleagues at Altos Labs-Cambridge Institute of Science noticed the role of retromyelin in myelin production while studying the gene networks used by oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin in the central nervous system. .

Specifically, they were studying the role of non-coding regions, including retrotransposons, in these gene networks. This has not been previously studied in the context of myelin biology.

“Retrotransposons make up about 40% of our genome, but we know nothing about how they helped animals acquire specific traits during evolution.” said Dr. Ghosh.

“Our motivation was to learn how these molecules serve evolutionary processes, especially in the context of myelination.”

Researchers discovered that in rodents, retromyelin RNA transcripts regulate the expression of myelin basic protein, one of the key components of myelin.

When we experimentally inhibited retromyelin in oligodendrocytes and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (the stem cells from which oligodendrocytes are derived), the cells were no longer able to produce myelin basic protein.

To find out whether retromyelin is present in other vertebrate species, scientists looked for similar sequences within the genomes of jawed vertebrates, jawless vertebrates, and some invertebrate species. Searched for.

They identified similar sequences in all other classes of jawed vertebrates (birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians) but found no similar sequences in jawless vertebrates or invertebrates. did not.

Robin Franklin, a neuroscientist at the Altos Institute at the Cambridge Institute of Science, said: “There was an evolutionary drive to speed up the conduction of impulses in axons, because the faster the impulse conduction, the faster we can grab objects and move away from them.'' Because they can run away.”

Next, the authors wanted to know whether retromyelin was integrated once in the ancestor of all jawed vertebrates, or whether there were separate retroviral invasions in different branches.

To answer these questions, they constructed a phylogenetic tree from 22 jawed vertebrate species and compared their retromyelin sequences.

This analysis revealed that retromyelin sequences are more similar within species than between species, suggesting that retromyelin has been acquired multiple times through a process of convergent evolution.

The researchers also showed that retromyelin plays a functional role in myelination in fish and amphibians.

When they experimentally disrupted the retromyelin gene sequence in fertilized zebrafish and frog eggs, they found that the developing fish and tadpoles produced significantly less myelin than normal.

“Our findings open new avenues of research exploring how retroviruses are involved in directing evolution more generally,” said Dr. Ghosh.

of study It was published in the magazine cell.

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Tanai Ghosh other. 2024. Retroviral involvement in vertebrate myelination through retrotransposon RNA-mediated control of myelin gene expression. cell 187 (4): 814-830; doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.011

Source: www.sci.news

Possible Origins of the Basque Language Unraveled by Ancient Bronze Hand

Posted on February 20, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Ancient bronze hand discovered in Irregui, northern Spain

Juancho Egana

An inscription found on a 2,000-year-old metal needle may be written in a language related to modern-day Basque. If this interpretation is correct, it could help explain one of the biggest mysteries in linguistics: the origin of the Basque language.

However, other linguists say there is not enough evidence to link the inscription to Basque.

The bronze hand was discovered in July 2021 at the top of a hill called Irregui in the Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain. Archaeologists have been excavating there since 2007, first discovering a medieval castle and then exploring a much older settlement from the Iron Age.

This settlement was founded between 1500 and 1000 BC. It was probably attacked by the Romans and abandoned in the 1st century BC.

Irreghi's hand is a bronze plate measuring 14 centimeters long, 12.8 centimeters wide, and only 0.1 centimeter thick, with a patina tint. On the back of the hand are his four lines of text, rewritten by first scratching and then dotting into the metal.

Most words cannot be associated with any known language, but the first word is “sorionek”. Matin Ayesteran Professors at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, and their colleagues claim it is similar to Basque. Zorio cat, which means “lucky.” Furthermore, the last word is “elaukon”, which is likened to a Basque verb. Zelaucon.

Irregi's hand carved in a mysterious language

Matin Ayesteran et al.

It is said that this hand was probably intended to represent good fortune or attract good fortune by appealing to the gods. Mikel Edeso Eguia in Aranzadi Scientific Society Assisted with excavations at Donostia (also known as San Sebastian), Spain.

The researchers also claim that the hand is evidence that languages related to Basque have been spoken in northern Spain for 2,000 years. Most languages currently spoken in Europe belong to the Indo-European family, but Basque does not. “It has nothing to do with any other language we know,” says Edeso Eguia. Previous research has tentatively linked the Basques to a group of people known as the Bascons, who lived in the Pyrenees according to classical sources.

However, the idea that the inscriptions on the hands are written in a language related to Basque is not widely accepted.After the hand was first described in his 2022 book, linguists Celine Munour at the University of Pau and the Adour region in France. Julen Manterola Presented at the Basque University of Vitoria-Gasteiz Criticism.

“There's not enough evidence,” Manterola said. This is also because there are very few words in the hands of the Irregian language. Not enough, he says, to properly compare with known languages.

Furthermore, the connection with the Basque language is based almost exclusively on the similarity between “sorionek” and “solionek”. Zorio cat. “You can't connect other words with historical Basque,” Munor says.

Even that similarity can be misleading, Manterola says. Similar phrases in Basque have changed in predictable ways over the centuries, arriving at their current form. Zorio catmust have taken a completely different path.

“We expect more inscriptions to emerge,” Munour says. “In this case, we will be able to learn more about the possible relationship between this language and the Basque language.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient bone beads discovered in Wyoming date back 12,940 years

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Archaeologists have discovered ancient tubular beads made from hare bone at the La Prele mammoth site in Wyoming, USA. This is the oldest bead discovered in the Western Hemisphere.

La Prele bone beads. Polished end (top) and side view with notch (bottom). Image credit: Surovell other., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53390-9.

“The manufacture and use of personal ornaments, most commonly beads, is an important indicator of the increasing cultural and social complexity of humans during the Paleolithic period, first appearing in the Middle Stone Age of Africa. It then appeared in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Eurasia,” says the University of Wisconsin. Wyoming Professor Todd Surovell and his colleagues.

“Beads are not well documented from early archaeological contexts in the Americas, but some examples have been reported from Paleoindian regions, where the first immigrants to the Western Hemisphere used beads on their bodies and clothing. It shows that he created and used personal ornaments to decorate his home.”

Archaeologists examined ancient tubular beads from an active area centered around a hearth at the La Prele Mammoth ruins in Converse County, Wyoming, USA.

“The La Prele Mammoth Site is an early Paleoindian site located along La Prele Creek near its confluence with the North Platte River in Converse County, Wyoming,” they said.

“Test excavations in 1987 revealed an association between the chipped stone remains and the partial remains of a subadult.” Colombian mammoth (mammoth colombi)Subsequent excavations revealed that a nearby campsite preserved active areas centered around multiple hearths. ”

“The occupied surface was filled with low-energy dyke deposits, and based on an average of five radiocarbon dates of the bones, occupation occurred 12,941 years ago.”

The length of the beads is small, about 7mm. The inner diameter averages 1.6 mm and the outer diameter averages 2.9 mm.

“Two deep parallel grooves with a U-shaped cross section develop on the surface of the bead aligned perpendicular to the long axis,” the researchers said.

“Similar grooves also occur on Paleolithic and Archaic tubular bone beads, although it is unclear whether these notches are a byproduct of manufacturing, skinning, abrasion, or perhaps decoration. It's very smooth and polished.”

“The beads are lightly coated with red ocher, but the presence of ocher on the surface may be coincidental since they were recovered from a sediment contaminated with powdered hematite.”

To determine the origin of the beads, scientists extracted collagen for zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry, also known as ZooMS. This allowed us to gain insight into the chemical composition of bone.

Researchers believe that the beads are attached to either the metatarsals (the bones that connect the phalanges of the fingers to the more proximal bones of the limbs) or the proximal phalanges (the bones found in the fingers and toes of humans and other vertebrates). I concluded that it was made from either. rabbit.

The discovery provides the first solid evidence of the use of hares in BC. Clovis periodspecifically refers to the prehistoric period of North America, about 12,000 years ago.

“We also considered the possibility that the beads were the result of consumption and digestion by carnivores and were not produced by humans,” the authors said.

“However, carnivores are not common at this site, and the artifacts were recovered one meter away from a densely scattered area of other cultural materials.”

“Additionally, the grooves on the outside of the beads are consistent with those made by humans with stones and teeth.”

“Such beads may have been used to decorate their bodies or clothing.”

of findings It was published in the magazine scientific report.

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TA Slovel other. 2024. Rabbit bones are used to make Clovis beads. science officer 14/2937. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-53390-9

Source: www.sci.news

Webb uncovers massive inactive galaxy with mature stars in the ancient cosmos

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The formation of galaxies through the stepwise hierarchical coassembly of baryons and cold dark matter halos is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics and predicts a significant decline in the number of giant galaxies in the early Universe. . Very massive quiescent galaxies have been observed 1 to 2 billion years after the Big Bang. These form between 300 million and 500 million years ago and are very limiting for theoretical models, as only some models can form massive galaxies this early. The spectrum of newly discovered quiescent galaxy ZF-UDS-7329 reveals features typical of much older stellar populations. Detailed modeling shows that the stellar population formed about 1.5 billion years ago, when dark matter halos with sufficient host mass had not yet assembled in the standard scenario. This observation may indicate the existence of an undetected early population of galaxies and potentially large gaps in our understanding of the nature of early stellar populations, galaxy formation, and/or dark matter.

This web image shows ZF-UDS-7329, a rare massive galaxy that formed very early in the universe. Image credit: Glazebrook other., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9.

Galaxy formation is a fundamental paradigm underpinning modern astrophysics, and a significant decrease in the number of massive galaxies in the early universe is predicted.

Very large quiescent galaxies have been observed 1 to 2 billion years after the Big Bang, casting doubt on previous theoretical models.

Professor Carl Glazebrook, from Swinburne University of Technology, said: “We have been tracking this galaxy for seven years, observing it for hours with two of the largest telescopes on Earth to find out its age.” Ta.

“But it was too red and too faint to be measured. In the end, we had to go outside Earth and use the web to see its properties.”

“This was truly a team effort, from the infrared sky survey that began in 2010 to identifying this galaxy as an anomaly, and the many hours spent with the Keck Telescope and the Very Large Telescope. But we couldn’t confirm it, and finally, last year, we spent a lot of effort trying to figure out how to process the web data and analyze this spectrum.”

“We are now beyond the realm of possibility to have identified the oldest giant stationary monster deep in the universe,” said Dr Temmiya Nanayakkara, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology.

“This pushes the limits of our current understanding of how galaxies form and evolve.”

“The key question now is how do stars form so quickly, so early in the universe, and how do they form at a time when other parts of the universe are forming stars? “What kind of mysterious mechanism could cause it to suddenly stop forming?”

“Galaxy formation is determined primarily by how dark matter is concentrated.”

“The presence of these extremely massive galaxies in the early universe poses significant challenges to our standard model of cosmology.”

“This is because dark matter structures large enough to accommodate these massive galaxies are unlikely to have formed yet.”

“More observations are needed to help us understand how common these galaxies are and how massive they really are.”

“This could open new doors in our understanding of the physics of dark matter,” Professor Glazebrook said.

“Webb continues to discover evidence that massive galaxies form early.”

“This result sets a new record for this phenomenon. It’s very impressive, but it’s just one object. But we want to discover more. If I If we were to do this, it would seriously disrupt our understanding of galaxy formation.”

This finding is reported in the following article: paper Published in this week’s magazine Nature.

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K. Glazebrook other. A huge galaxy that formed stars at z ~ 11. Nature, published online on February 14, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07191-9

Source: www.sci.news

Ancient Fossils of Land-Dwelling Animals Found in Australia Dating Back 380 Million Years

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologist at Flinders University brian chu and his colleagues described a new genus and species of Devonian tetrapod fish based on several nearly complete skulls and postcranial skeletons.

rebuilding the life of Harajikadectes zumini. Image credit: Brian Choo, Flinders University.

“Tetrapodomorpha “It consists of tetrapods and their closest fish relatives, the oldest records of which are from the Pragians of China,” said Dr Chu and co-authors.

“This group diversified greatly in both marine and freshwater habitats during the Middle to Late Devonian, giving rise to several distinct lineages, including the earliest quadrupeds.”

“Tetrapods flourished after the Devonian limbless fish tetrapods experienced a marked decline in diversity during the Carboniferous, but only survived into the early Permian before disappearing from the fossil record. There were only a handful of representative animals.”

This new species of tetrapod lived about 380 million years ago and was up to 45 to 50 centimeters long.

with scientific name Harajikadectes zuminithis fish is particularly distinctive for its large opening at the top of its skull.

“These spire-like structures are thought to facilitate air breathing at the surface, and modern African bichir fish have similar structures for taking in air at the surface,” said Dr Chew. Ta.

“This feature appears in multiple tetrapomodorf lineages at about the same time during the middle to late Devonian period.”

“In addition to Harajikadectes zumini Large spiracles also appeared from central Australia. gogonathus El Pisto Stegarian from Western Australia Tiktaalik — are the closest relatives of four-limbed quadrupeds. ”

“And it shows up in unrelated places.” Pickeringius Western Australian stingray fin fish first described in 2018. ”

with Dr. Chu Harajikadectes zumini fossil. Image credit: Flinders University.

Professor John Long from Flinders University said: “This synchronous emergence of air-breathing adaptations may have coincided with a period of reduced atmospheric oxygen during the mid-Devonian.”

“The ability to supplement gill breathing with oxygen from the air may have provided an adaptive advantage.”

“We discovered this new form of lobe-finned fish in one of the most remote fossil sites in all of Australia, the Harajika Sandstone Formation in the Northern Territory, about 200km west of Alice Springs. It dates from the mid-Devonian period. Late period, approximately 380 years ago.'' 1 million years old. ”

“It's difficult to pinpoint the location. Harajikadectes zumini sit in this group of fishes because they appear to have convergently acquired a mosaic of specialized features characteristic of widely separate branches of the tetrapod radiation. ”

of findings will appear in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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brian chu other. A new species of pedunculated tetrapod fish that lived in the middle to late Devonian period of central Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online on February 5, 2024. Doi: 10.1080/02724634.2023.2285000

Source: www.sci.news

What’s Inside the Ancient Herculaneum Scrolls Revealed by AI

Posted on February 6, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Vesuvius Challenge Grand Prize winner used technology to decipher corrupted papyrus scrolls

vesuvius challenge

Artificial intelligence helped decipher ancient papyrus scrolls that were turned into blackened blocks of carbon by volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The first passage of this easy-to-read text reveals the Greek philosopher's never-before-seen musings.

This discovery won a grand prize of $700,000. vesuvius challengeThey then used a combination of 3D mapping and AI techniques to detect ink and decipher the shapes of the letters in digitally scanned segments of a scroll known as the Herculaneum Papyrus. Winning team members Yusef Nader, Luke Fariter and Julian Siliger help pave the way for further discoveries from additional papyrus scrolls once housed in the library of the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum. there is a possibility.

“I think this is a huge boon to our knowledge of ancient philosophy. It's just a huge amount of new text,” he says. michael mc oscar A professor at the University of London, he was not involved in the discovery.

The winning entry met the Vesuvius Challenge criteria of deciphering at least 85 percent of the letters in four sentences of 140 characters each. Plus, as a bonus, we included 11 more columns of text totaling over 2000 characters.

These rediscovered Greek letters reveal the thoughts of Philodemus, who is believed to have been the resident philosopher of the library containing the Herculaneum Papyrus. The deciphered texts focus on how the scarcity or abundance of food and other goods affects the pleasure they bring. This fits with Philodemus' philosophy of the Epicurean school, which prioritized pleasure as the main goal of life. His 2,000-year-old writings even seem to delve into the philosophy of Stoicism, which “says nothing about pleasure.”

And the Vesuvius challenge is not over yet. Goals for 2024 include finding ways to scale up his 3D scanning and digital analysis technology without becoming too expensive. Current technology costs $100 per square centimeter. That means it could cost anywhere from $1 million to $5 million to effectively unravel the entire scroll, and there are 800 scrolls waiting to be deciphered.

“Realistically, the majority of the known libraries already in the public domain are Epicurean philosophy, and that's what we should expect, but there are also important Stoic texts, perhaps some history and Latin literature. Yes. Full text of early Roman writers such as Ennius and Livius Andronicus. [whose works] “Even if we don't survive, that would be great,” McCosker said. “Epicurus' SymposiumThe book he wrote about the biology of wine consumption would be a lot of fun. ”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Urban Center System in the Ecuadorian Amazon Dating Back 2,500 Years

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The Amazon forest is dense as it is and difficult to penetrate, either on foot or with scanning technology. But over the past few years, improved light detection and ranging scans have begun to penetrate the forest canopy, revealing previously unknown evidence of past Amazonian cultures. In a new paper, CNSR archaeologist Stephen Rostain and his colleagues describe evidence of such an Amazonian agricultural culture that began more than 2,000 years ago. The authors described more than 6,000 platforms distributed in a geometric pattern connected by roads and intertwined with agricultural landscapes and river drainage channels in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, at the eastern foothills of the Andes. Such large-scale early development in the Upper Amazon resembles similar Maya urban systems in Central America.

Rostain other. They discovered a dense system of pre-Hispanic urban centers, characterized by constructed platforms and plazas, and connected by large straight roads.Image credit: Rostain other., doi: 10.1126/science.adi6317.

Although a growing number of studies focus on the extent and scale of pre-Hispanic occupation of the Amazon, evidence of large-scale urbanization remains elusive.

Rostain and his co-authors found evidence of an agricultural civilization that began more than 2,500 years ago in the Upano Valley of Amazonian Ecuador, a region at the eastern foothills of the Andes.

“Based on more than 20 years of interdisciplinary research, including fieldwork and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) mapping, we depict urbanism on a scale never before recorded in Amazonia,” they said. said.

“We describe the construction of more than 6,000 anthropogenic rectangular earth platforms and plazas connected by footpaths and roads and surrounded by extensive agricultural landscapes and river drainages within 300 km.² This is the research area. ”

The authors identified at least 15 different settlements of varying size based on clusters of structures.

However, the most notable element of this built environment is the extensive and complex regional road network that connects the city center with the surrounding hinterland.

Archaeological excavations show that the construction and occupation of the platforms and roads took place between 500 BC and 300-600 AD, and was carried out by groups of the Kiramopu culture and later the Upano culture.

Such large-scale early development in the upper Amazon is comparable to similar Maya urban systems recently noted in Mexico and Guatemala.

“The Upano site is different from other monumental sites discovered in the Amazon; these are more recent and less extensive,” the researchers said.

“Discoveries like this are another vivid example of how the Amazon's dual heritage, not only environmental but also cultural and indigenous, is undervalued.”

“We believe it is important to radically revise preconceptions about the Amazonian world and, in doing so, reinterpret contexts and concepts in terms necessary for inclusive and participatory science.”

team's paper Published in the January 11th issue of the magazine science.

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Stefan Rostain other. 2024. Two thousand years of garden urbanization in the upper Amazon River basin. science 383 (6679): 183-189; doi: 10.1126/science.adi6317

Source: www.sci.news

Ancient Alaskan Hunter-Gatherer Camps were Linked to the Lifelong Movements of Female Woolly Mammoths

Posted on January 20, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) The peoples of mainland Alaska overlapped with the first peoples of this region for at least 1,000 years. However, it is unclear how mammoths used the space they shared with humans. In a new study, scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and elsewhere analyzed a 14,000-year-old female mammoth tusk discovered at an archaeological site in Fairbanks. swan point They showed that she migrated nearly 1,000 km (621 miles) from northwestern Canada to inhabit the Shaw Creek watershed in interior Alaska, an area with the highest concentration of early remains in interior Alaska. Early Alaskans appear to have built their settlements based in part on the prevalence of mammoths, utilizing them for raw materials and perhaps food.

The piece shows three mammoths being observed by an ancient Alaskan family from a sand dune near the Swan Point ruins, a seasonal hunting camp inhabited 14,000 years ago. Image credit: Julius Csostonyi.

The woolly mammoth at the center of the study, named Elmayujaye by the Healy Lake Village Council, was discovered at Swan Point, Alaska's oldest archaeological site, which also contained the remains of a juvenile mammoth and a baby.

Mammoth fossils have also been found at three other sites within 10 km of Swan Point.

In the study, University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Audrey Rowe and her colleagues conducted detailed isotopic analysis of complete tusks and genetic analysis of the remains of many other mammoth individuals, comparing the subject's movements and similar Pieced together relationships with other mammoths in location and environment. Neighborhood.

They determined that the Swan Point area was likely the gathering place for at least two closely related but distinct maternal herds.

“This is a fascinating story about the complexity of mammoth life and behavior, about which we have little insight,” said Dr. Hendrik Poynar, director of the McMaster Center for Ancient DNA at McMaster University.

The authors sequenced the mitochondrial genomes of eight woolly mammoths found at Swan Point and other nearby sites to see if and how they were related.

They also conducted isotopic analysis of a 14,000-year-old tusk from Elmayujaye (Elma) taken from Swan Point.

“Mammoth tusks grew like tree trunks, with thin layers showing steady growth, and isotopes of different elements such as oxygen and strontium providing information about the target's movements,” the researchers said. Ta.

“The female mammoth lived most of her life in a relatively small area of the Yukon Territory and died when she was about 20 years old.”

“As she grew older, she traveled more than 1,000 kilometers in just three years, settling in interior Alaska and dying near related babies and boys, suggesting that she may have been the matrilineal leader. unknown.”

“Mammoths are estimated to behave much like modern elephants, with females and young living in close-knit matrilineal herds, and adult males traveling alone or in looser groups of males. They are often thought to have a wider range than females.

The researchers extracted and analyzed ancient DNA from Elmayujay's tusks and found that the mammoth was closely related to other mammoths at the same site, and more distantly related to other mammoths at a nearby site called Holzmann. found.

“Early humans had a deep understanding of mammoths and the art of hunting them, and used mammoth habitats for scavenging and hunting detritus as raw material for tools,” the researchers said.

“In addition to the direct effects of hunting on mammoth populations, human activities and settlements have also affected mammoth populations indirectly by restricting mammoth movement and access to preferred grazing areas. There is a possibility.”

“For early people in Alaska, these areas were important for observation and viewing, as well as potential food sources,” Dr. Poyner said.

The data collected suggests that people organized seasonal hunting camps based on where mammoths congregated, and that this may have had an indirect effect on the localized extinction of mammoths in Alaska, which was further exacerbated by a rapidly changing climate and changes in vegetation. This suggests that it may have played a role.

However, such deprivation does not seem to have affected the mammoths involved.

“She was a young adult in her prime,” said Professor Matthew Wooler, director of the Alaska Stable Isotope Facility and a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“Her isotopes showed that she was not malnourished and that she died during the same season as the Swan Point seasonal hunting camp where her tusk was found.”

“This is more than just looking at stone tools and ruins and making assumptions. This analysis of lifetime migration is very helpful in understanding how humans and mammoths lived in these areas,” McMaster said. said Dr. Tyler Murchy, a postdoctoral fellow at the university.

a paper The findings were published in this week's magazine scientific progress.

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Audrey G. Lowe other. 2024. The female woolly mammoth's lifelong migration ends in an ancient Alaskan hunter-gatherer camp. scientific progress 10(3); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk0818

Source: www.sci.news

The ‘Lost City’ of Amazon thrived for a millennium in an ancient complex

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Archaeologists in the Amazon have discovered a series of “lost cities” that have flourished for thousands of years, the results of which were published Thursday in the journal Science.

Laser images have revealed an intricate network of roads, districts, and gardens as complex as those built by the Maya civilization.

Traces of the city were first noticed more than 20 years ago by archaeologist Stephane Rostain of France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), but “I didn't have a complete overview of the area,” he told Science. Told.

A new laser mapping technology called LIDAR helped researchers see through forest cover and map new details of mounds and structures in Ecuador's Upano Valley settlement.

The images reveal a geometric pattern of more than 6,000 platforms connected by roads, intertwined with the agricultural landscape and river drainage channels of an urban farming civilization in the eastern foothills of the Andes.

“It was the Valley of the Lost City. It's unbelievable,” Rostain, who is leading the investigation at CNRS, told The Associated Press.

The image shows a main street cutting through the city area, forming an axis around which a complex of rectangular platforms is placed around a low square.
Antoine Dollison, Stéphane Lotay/AP

These sites were built and inhabited by the Upano people between about 500 BC and 300-600 AD, but the size of their population is not yet known.

The research team found five large settlements and 10 smaller settlements with housing and ceremonial buildings across 116 square miles of the valley. Its size is comparable to other major ruins. For example, the core area of Quilamope, one of the settlements, is as large as the Giza Plateau in Egypt or the main thoroughfare of Teotihuacan in Mexico.

The landscape of Upano societies may be comparable to Mayan “garden cities,” where homes were surrounded by farmland and most of the food consumed by residents was grown in the city, the authors write in Science. Told.

Co-author Fernando Mejia, an archaeologist at the Pontifical University of Ecuador, said the discovery of Upano was so far only the “tip of the iceberg” of what could be discovered in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

The Amazon is considered the world's most dangerous forest, home to dense towering trees, tangled vines, hostile wildlife, and poisonous insects. Archaeologists believed it was primarily suitable for hunter-gatherers, but inhospitable to complex civilizations.

But over the past two decades, scientists have discovered evidence of human habitation, including mounds, hillforts, and pyramids, in the Amazon River from Bolivia to Brazil.

The newly mapped city in the Upano Valley is 1,000 years older than previous discoveries, including the Bolivian Amazonian society Llanos de Mojos. The discovery shattered what scientists previously believed about civilizations in the Amazon rainforest.

And the details of the cultures of these two places are only just beginning to emerge.

German researcher Carla Jaimes Betancourt, an expert on Llanos de Mojos, told Science that the people of both Upano Valley and Llanos de Mojos were farmers. They built roads, canals, and large public and ceremonial buildings. But “we're just beginning to understand how these cities functioned, their populations, who they traded with, how their societies were governed, etc.” she said.

Rostain emphasized how much remains to be revealed. “We say 'Amazonia,' but we should say 'Amazonia' to capture the diversity of ancient cultures in this region,” he says.

“The Amazon has always had an incredibly diverse range of people and settlements, and there is not just one way of life,” he added. “We're still learning more about them.”

Source: www.nbcnews.com

The Genetic Origins of Multiple Sclerosis in Northern Europeans Revealed by Ancient DNA

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Northern Europeans have a higher risk of multiple sclerosis due to ancient DNA, a study reveals. About 5,000 years ago, people flocked to this area.

This discovery emerged from a large-scale study comparing modern DNA with DNA obtained from ancient human teeth and bones. This allowed scientists to explore prehistoric migration and associated disease-related genes.

Results show that when the Yamnaya people migrated from present-day Ukraine and Russia to northwestern Europe during the Bronze Age, they carried a genetic mutation. This mutation is now known to increase the risk of multiple sclerosis.

The study, published in the journal Nature, suggests that these genes not only allowed the Yamnaya to flourish and spread but also protected them from infectious diseases carried by cattle and sheep.

The project, led by Eske Willerslev and the University of Copenhagen, is pioneering ancient DNA research and comparing it to similar research, including tracking down early cousins such as Neanderthals.

The process of ancient DNA extraction at the Lundbeck Foundation Geogenetics Center in Copenhagen.Michal Schlosser / University of Copenhagen (via AP)

This gene bank’s first exploration of multiple sclerosis is especially relevant since the disease is most common among people of white Scandinavian descent, yet the reason remains unknown.

Scientists believe certain infections can cause MS in genetically susceptible individuals. Over 230 genetic mutations have been identified that may increase the risk of this disease.

The study uncovered major changes in the population of northern Europe, tracing the migration of the Yamnaya people around 5,000 years ago. The gene bank was used to compare ancient DNA with around 400,000 modern humans

Comparisons revealed that MS-related genetic variants remained in the north, the direction the Yamnaya migrated, rather than in southern Europe. This supports the idea that the Yamnaya people are the closest ancestors of modern Danes, and the incidence of MS is particularly high in Scandinavian countries.

Dr. Astrid Iversen from the University of Oxford explains how exposure to animal-based bacteria may lead to imbalances in the immune system, possibly playing a role in the early development of autoimmune diseases.

While the study provides a potential explanation for the North-South MS disparity in Europe, further research is required to confirm the link. This statement comes from New York’s M.D., Samira Asghari, a genetics expert at Sinai School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Largest ancient city ever discovered found in the Amazon

Posted on January 12, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Lidar scan of Ecuador’s Upano Valley reveals raised platform

Stephen Rostain

Aerial survey reveals the largest previously discovered pre-colonial city in the Amazon, connected by an extensive road network.

“This settlement is much larger than other settlements in the Amazon,” he says. Stefan Rostain at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. “They are equivalent to Maya sites.”

Additionally, these cities are between 3,000 and 1,500 years old, making them older than other pre-Columbian cities found in the Amazon. It is not clear why the people who built them disappeared.

The Amazon rainforest was thought to be largely untouched until Italian explorer Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in the 15th century. In fact, the first Europeans reported seeing many farms and towns in the area.

These reports, long ignored, have been borne out in recent decades by the discovery of ancient earthworks and vast expanses of black soil created by farmers.According to some estimates, the pre-Columbian population of the Amazon was Up to 8 million.

Since the 1990s, Rostain and his colleagues have been studying archaeological sites in the Upano Valley of the Amazon River in Ecuador, in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Traces of an ancient settlement were first discovered there in his 1970s, but only a few remains have been excavated.

In 2015, Rostain’s team conducted an aerial survey using LIDAR, a laser scanning technology that can create detailed 3D maps of the surface beneath most vegetation, revealing features that are normally invisible to the eye. did. The findings, which have just been published, show that the settlements were much more widespread than anyone realized.

The survey revealed more than 6,000 raised earth platforms within an area of 300 square kilometers. These are the sites where wooden buildings once stood, and excavations have revealed postholes and fireplaces in these buildings.

Most of the platforms are approximately 10 x 20 meters and 2 meters high and are believed to be the site of residential buildings. The largest was 40×140 meters and 5 meters high and was considered the site of a monumental building used for rituals.

Surrounding the home were fields, many of which were drained by small canals dug around them. “The valley has been almost completely modified,” Rostain says.

Analysis of pottery suggests that corn, beans, caniolk, and sweet potatoes were cultivated.

Overall, there were five major settlements in the study area. According to Rostain, these could be described as garden cities because of their low density of buildings.

The survey also revealed a network of straight roads made by digging out soil and piling it up on the sides. The longest span at least 25 kilometers, but may extend beyond the surveyed area.

Upano Valley in Ecuador

Stephen Rostain

What's strange, Rostain says, is that the people of Upano went to great lengths to straighten the road. For example, in one place they dug down 5 meters instead of along the contour line. So the road probably had a symbolic meaning, he says, since there was no practical reason to make it straight.

There are traces of defensive structures such as ditches in places, suggesting that there may have been some sort of conflict between groups.

In the rest of the Amazon, many settlements were abandoned after the arrival of Europeans, as most of the population died from disease and violence, probably caused by the invaders.

However, the Upano artifacts dated by Rostain's team are all more than 1,500 years old, suggesting that the valley settlements were abandoned after this period, long before colonial times. doing. It's not clear why, but the team found layers of volcanic ash, suggesting a series of eruptions may have forced people to leave the valley.

“This demonstrates the unprecedented degree of complexity and density of payments in this early period,” he says. michael heckenberger at the University of Florida. “The authors rightly conclude that the complexity and scale are now comparable to well-known cases such as the Maya.”

“This is the largest complex containing a large settlement ever found in the Amazon,” he says. charles clement at the National Amazonian Institute in Manaus, Brazil.

They were also found in an area of the Amazon that other researchers had concluded was sparsely inhabited during the pre-Columbian period, Clement said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient sponge fossil unearthed in Ireland by paleontologists dating back 315 million years

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Remarkable new species over 50 cm (20 inches) tall Chiatophicus varori is the largest known member of its genus theatophicus and one of the largest sponges in the order mesh.

Chiatophicus varori. Image credit: Botting other., doi: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.07.004.

“theatophicus “This is one of the most widely distributed Ordovician and Silurian sponge genera, recorded throughout the Iapetus region and tentatively in Bohemia,” said lead authors Ballen and Moher. said Dr Eamon Doyle, geologist at the Cliffs UNESCO Global Geopark, and colleagues. .

“This genus was widely distributed in offshore marine environments from the Middle Ordovician to the Middle Devonian, but has not previously been recorded in rocks from that period.”

named Chiatophicus varorithe newly identified species lived during the Carboniferous period, about 315 million years ago.

When alive, the vase-shaped sponge had a circular opening at the top surrounded by a ring of eyelash-like structures.

Probably similar to modern times Venus flower basket spongefound in the Pacific Ocean and often featured in deep-sea wildlife documentaries.

“This is a very large example of a type of fossil sponge that was previously only known from much older rocks elsewhere in the world,” Dr Doyle said.

“This is the first record of a sponge fossil of this type found in Ireland and its excellent state of preservation is extremely rare.”

specimen of Chiatophicus varori collected from Kilkee Cyclosem, Central Clare Group, Namuria, County Clare,Ireland.

“Sponges originally consisted of a rectangular network of tiny needles made of silica, held together by a thin organic membrane,” Dr Doyle said.

“Normally they fall apart quickly after death, and often only scattered remains of the needles are preserved as fossils, so we were delighted to find these nearly intact specimens. .”

“This wonderfully preserved fossil dates back to a time when the Atlantic Ocean had not yet begun to form, and the area now known as County Clare was part of an early ocean located near the equator.”

“Discoveries like this help raise awareness of the amazing geological heritage we have here on our doorstep in County Clare, and inspire a new generation of palaeontologists – geologists who specialize in the study of fossils. will help encourage people to visit and learn more about the unique geology of Ireland's west coast. ”

“We were surprised by the size and well-preserved condition of this fossil. This was completely unexpected,” said lead author Dr. Joseph Botting, a researcher at Amgefa Shimul Museum in Wales and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology. said.

“This discovery provides important insight into the evolution of sponges and how some species are able to survive in niche environments where most other species cannot live. It is unusual for a specimen to be found.”

“This is a fantastic discovery and a reminder that new and interesting fossils are still being discovered that help us understand the story of life on Earth,” said the co-authors, from the Amgefa Cymru Museum in Wales. said Dr. Lucy Muir, a researcher at . .

team's paper Published in Journal October 2023 issue geobios.

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Joseph P. Botting other. 2023. A late surviving extra-large reticulated sponge from the Carboniferous of Ireland. geobios 80: 1-13; doi: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.07.004

Source: www.sci.news

New Discovery: Giant Pliosaur Skull Illuminates Ancient Sea Reptiles

Posted on January 5, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

A giant Jurassic pliosaur skull pulled from a cliff in Dorset, England, is providing scientists with a wealth of new information about these sea reptiles. “This is very likely a new species,” says Judith Sassoon from the University of Bristol, UK.

This fossil is the subject of a new documentary, attenborough and the giant sea monster, which will premiere on BBC One on January 1st and air on PBS in the US in February. The skull is extremely well preserved, and CT scans show that the sensory holes in the nose (pictured above) were connected to blood vessels and nerves, allowing Pliosaurus to sense changes in pressure and move through murky water. It is revealed that it can hunt prey (photo below, CGI image from the documentary).

There is hope that the remaining fossils are still intact on the cliff. “There may be evidence in that skeleton of how it died,” said Steve Etches, who led the team that extracted and prepared the skull. Below, a still from the documentary shows Mr Etches having a nose exam with David Attenborough (left).

Sir David Attenborough and Steve Etches investigate Pliosaurus' fossilized nose

bbc studio

Surface scans of the specimen helped scientists estimate the strength of its bite. Emily Rayfield, a paleontologist at the University of Bristol, suggests that its bite would have been twice as powerful as that of a saltwater crocodile, one of the most powerful bites known. Evidence of trihedral teeth with two sharp cutting edges and striped grooves is shown below.

These grooves are thought to have stopped the vacuum that formed when the teeth plunged into prey, allowing Pliosaurus to bite repeatedly and quickly, further cementing its status as one of the most feared predators of its time. Masu. The skull is on display at the Etches Collection in Dorset, England.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Ancient microfossils indicate photosynthesis originated 1.75 billion years ago

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Oldest known evidence of photosynthetic structures identified in a collection of mysterious cylindrical microfossils Nabyfusa magensis It was discovered in the 1.75 billion year old McDermott Formation in Australia.

Nabyfusa magensis Microfossil: (a) Nabyfusa magensis From the McDermott Formation of the Tawala Supergroup, northern Australia. (b) Nabyfusa magensis From the Grassy Bay Formation of the Shaler Supergroup in the Canadian Arctic. (c) Nabyfusa magensis From the Mbujimai supergroup BIIc6 formation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Scale bar – 50 μm. Image credit: Demoulin other., doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06896-7.

Oxygenic photosynthesis, in which sunlight catalyzes the conversion of water and carbon dioxide to glucose and oxygen, is unique to cyanobacteria and related organelles within eukaryotes.

Cyanobacteria played an important role in the evolution of early life and were active before the B.C. big oxidation event Approximately 2.4 billion years ago, the timing of the origin of oxygenic photosynthesis is debated due to limited evidence.

“Today, oxygenic photosynthesis is unique to cyanobacteria and their plastid relatives within eukaryotes,” said the paleontologist at the University of Liege. Catherine Dumoulin And her colleagues.

“Although its origins before the Great Oxidation Event are still debated, the accumulation of oxygen profoundly altered Earth's redox chemistry and the evolution of the biosphere, which contains complex life.”

“Understanding the diversification of cyanobacteria is therefore critical to understanding the coevolution of our planet and life, but their early fossil record remains equivocal.”

In their research, Demoulin and his co-authors discovered fossilized photosynthetic structures. Nabyfusa magensis Microfossil.

The microstructure is thylakoid. A membrane-bound structure found inside the chloroplasts of plants and some modern cyanobacteria.

Researchers identified them from fossils taken from three different locations, the oldest of which is from Australia's McDermott Formation and dates to 1.75 billion years ago (Paleoproterozoic era).

Nabyfusa magensis It is thought to be a cyanobacterium. The discovery of thylakoids in specimens from this period suggests that photosynthesis may have evolved at some point 1.75 billion years ago.

However, the mystery of whether photosynthesis evolved before or after the Great Oxidation Event remains unsolved.

Similar ultrastructural analyzes of older microfossils could help answer this question and determine whether the evolution of thylakoids contributed to elevated oxygen levels during the Great Oxidation Event.

“This discovery extends the thylakoid fossil record by at least 1.2 billion years and establishes a minimum age for the divergence of thylakoid cyanobacteria to be about 1.75 billion years ago,” the authors said. .

“This allows for the unambiguous identification of early oxygenic photosynthetic substances and new redox substances for investigating early Earth ecosystems, and for deciphering the paleontology and early evolution of fossil cells. This highlights the importance of examining the ultrastructure of cells.”

team's paper Published in today's magazine Nature.

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CF Dumoulin other. The oldest known fossil cells, thylakoids, provide direct evidence of oxygenic photosynthesis. Nature, published online on January 3, 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06896-7

Source: www.sci.news